The Third Choice
by FictionReader98
Summary: What if. In the story "Bending the Jutsu" Sasuke made the decision to go back to Konoha, but what if he made a different choice? Something no one expected. A choice that would affect not just him, but those around him.
1. My Choice Is

The Third Choice

A/N: since I helped Son Kenshin write the ending of Chapter 18 on Bending the Jutsu, after reading the final version of it, I began having ideas and thoughts on what would happen if Sasuke made a third choice, rather than the one he did in Son Kenshin's story. So I basically wrote this on a whim, and Son Kenshin liked it, so I figured I'd post it anyway.

Naturally, one should read Bending the Jutsu to understand the story up until now, and just so we're all clear, this story is written and posted with Son Kenshin's approval. And thanks Son Kenshin for betaing this.

Chapter 1: My Choice Is…

**Earth Kingdom**

Sasuke leapt through the trees, trying to make his way to Fire Nation territory to rejoin the Sound Village. He had sensed Sakura behind him but he paid her no mind, since he thought she was still the girl he left on the bench in Konoha during his first defection. Inside his mind, the Hawk and the Snake still argued, and he was still trying to justify his reason for leaving again.

'I will get the power to kill Itachi…' Sasuke thought, his dark side continuing to cloud his thoughts. '…Orochimaru will teach me everything. Absolutely everything he knows and I won't refuse to kill anymore…'

He landed in a clearing next to a wide, calm river. The Uchiha could tell that the water was deep, since there was a large 'black' section under the blue water, where the light couldn't penetrate the depths. He looked briefly into the water, and he saw himself with the Cursed Seal active.

He looked up. "Sakura, leave me alone."

Sakura stood up on Taho as they got into view. "No…Sasuke…" she started, hopping off her giant slug. "I am going to drag you back to the camp myself."

"_You_? Don't be foolish, you have no chance against me," Sasuke told her condescendingly.

Sakura growled, squeezing her hand into a tight fist. "You aren't the only one who has gotten stronger over the past three years."

"Naruto has, that Hyuga girl has, but you? You always held up our team, playing on the sidelines. Are you seriously telling me that you've gotten better?"

"Lets find out, Sasuke. I'm no longer that crying little girl," Sakura told him dangerously, taking Toph's earthbending stance while standing on the beach.

"Very well," Sasuke said as he bit his thumb, and scrawled the blood onto the seal on his wrist. He flew through the hand seals and slammed his palm to the ground. With a puff of smoke, a massive 12.5 meter long purple snake, it hissed dangerously at Taho.

"Sakura-hime, stand back, I shall handle this," Taho said as she slithered into the foreground.

The massive snake slithered away from Sasuke, and it rose to it's full height. The snakes gaping jaws opened, showing it's curved razor sharp teeth, and it's red tongue. Taho's stock eyes focused onto the massive snake, and they seemed to narrow. Both summoned animals slowly began circling each other, looking for an opening.

Taho then noticed something, and suddenly jerked back just as the snake's tail slammed up through the ground like a spike at her. She then slithered around as the snake snapped out at her with it's massive jaws. She dodged, moving as fast as she could until she could get the angle.

"Suppai Bomu (Acid Bomb)!" Taho called out, shooting out a large blast of acid.

The giant snake dove underneath the ground to avoid the acid, but it's back got singed. It hissed in pain as it's outer skin was burned, and it burrowed through the sand to get at Taho. The slug scrunched up its body like a spring and launched itself up into the air just in time to avoid the snakes gaping jaws.

The snake hissed, opened up its mouth and fired thousands of senbon needles tipped with venom at the slug. Taho hurriedly zipped around the snake's line of fire, and it tackled the beast. The snake hissed, rising its head up and shooting it's needles into the sky. Taho looked up to see the needles start falling all over the area, and she spat acid into the sky to deflect the needles that were coming at her. Sasuke and Sakura leapt out of the way, using their sword and kunai respectively to block the needles.

Taho and the snake were panting now. Even though she hadn't been hit, avoiding all these attacks, as well as the previous chase, had taken a lot out of the summoned slug. And the snake was suffering a nasty burn wound on its back where the acid bomb had hit. The last attack would decide it all, and both animals waited for their moment to strike.

"Suppai Bomu (Acid Bomb)!" Taho yelled, slithering forward and launching a bolt of acid at the snake.

The snake retorted by spraying it's needles in a wide arc. The acid slammed through the needles, melting through them with ease. The ball of acid slammed into the snakes head, making it hiss in agony. At the same time the senbons got at Taho, and she screamed in pain. Both summons panted as they looked at each other. Then, in a puff of smoke, they disappeared back into the summoned realm. The senbons disappeared in the smoke, leaving the battlefield riddled with pin sized holes.

Sasuke and Sakura leapt back onto the battle field, looking at each other. "Sakura, just turn back. I'm heading back to Sound."

"No, you're not Sasuke, I'm going to stop you," Sakura told him, taking Toph's earthbending stance to start the fight.

"So be it," Sasuke said darkly, taking a firebending stance.

Sakura made the first move, she slid her right leg out quickly, and shot out her left hand in a diagonal chop. The ground responded to her commands, and a pillar of rock shot out at Sasuke. The Uchiha sidestepped the attack, and shot out a blue fireball from his fingertips. Sakura countered by throwing her hands up into the air, and a slab of stone shot up from the ground in front of her. The blast of fire slammed harmlessly into the stone, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"I'm not going to roll over and let you win Sasuke!" Sakura snapped out.

Sasuke wasn't impressed. He unsheathed his sword and dashed towards the pink haired kunoichi. Sakura could barely feel where he was coming, and suddenly the slab of rock was cut in half. She leaned back to avoid the crackling sparks of the Uchiha's Chidori powered blade. Seizing the initiative, she shot up her foot, powering the chakra into it, and slammed it into Sasuke's jaw. The Uchiha wasn't alarmed; he figured the kick wouldn't hurt him…until it made contact.

Sasuke gave a strangled yell as he was launched into the sky. He managed to catch himself in the air, flip and landed on his feet. He wiped the blood from his cheek, and looked as Sakura charged him, fist cocked for a punch. Sasuke raised his arm quickly to block, and he saw what she was doing, but it was too late. The pure strength that the pink haired kunoichi put into the blow broke through his defense and her fist slammed into his face.

He skidded back, recoiling from the blow as Sakura kept up her momentum. 'I need to just keep hitting him! I can't have him have any time to counter!'

Sasuke growled, using his Sharingan to predict her path of attack and dodge. Just as her heel slammed into the ground he jumped up into the air momentarily and slammed his own fist into Sakura's face, making her jerk back in pain, and the Uchiha finished his counter off with a roundhouse kick to her side which made her cry in pain as a crack was heard and roll in the sky. She crashed into the ground, clutching her side weakly.

"You have gotten stronger…" Sasuke muttered, surprise evident in his voice. He wiped the blood off his cheek. "But this is over."

"Not…yet…" Sakura told him, with a little blood dripping out of her mouth. Her hand began to glow green, and…the pain in her side began to subside and the rib that was broken by Sasuke slowly mended up. She rose to her feet again, taking a fighting stance again. "This fight isn't over yet, Sasuke."

"So you've trained to become a medical ninja…whoever your master was did a very good job…but it still won't be enough, you're not strong enough to beat me."

Sakura didn't answer, she just returned into her earthbending stance after taking something out of her back pouch. Sasuke decided to end the battle now, and he charged at her with all his speed. The pink hair kunoichi blinked, and braced herself, she knew that look. As quickly as she could, she wrapped the wire around her hand and then tied it quickly onto the loop of the kunai she had brought out earlier.

"Chidori Nagashi!" Sasuke yelled as his entire body was enveloped by lighting, and Sakura tossed the kunai into the ground just as it hit.

She cried in pain as thousands of volts of electricity circulated through her body. Sasuke looked at her plainly, waiting for her to drop to her knees, unable to move due to the paralysis. However, she wasn't going to go down that easily, and began channeling the lightning chakra through her body with her fine chakra control. Sakura gritted her teeth as her plan went into motion…and a look of shock appeared on Sasuke's face when he realized what she was doing. The wire that was wrapped around her hand began to spark…and transfer the lightning chakra through it towards the kunai, right into the ground.

He quickly shut down his jutsu, and Sakura panted. That drained her, but she still had more than enough strength to keep launching punches. Cocking her fist, she launched it out, catching the still shocked Sasuke in the face. The Uchiha went skidding back, and he stopped, still standing.

"…that was….impressive and unexpected…" Sasuke said, standing up and wiping the blood off his lip. "You used your fine chakra control to guide my current through your body, all the way to the metal wire on your left hand. That wire then guided my current down it and into the kunai, finally into the earth so you completely nullified its paralyzing effects…"

"I…wouldn't let you beat me like that, Sasuke," Sakura said after taking a deep breath. "I will…bring you back."

Sasuke said nothing, he just looked to see that her wire was now frayed and broken, so she wouldn't realize what happened. He decided to trick her charging at her with a punch loaded. He sent out a blast of flame at her, and Sakura stomped her feet and constructed another wall of rock to shield her. The fire splashed harmlessly into the rock and she kicked it at him.

He leapt over the rock, and his hand sparked with the chidori in it. Sakura braced herself, she thought he was going to stick it into her. Instead, he slammed it into the ground in front of her, and the electricity traveled through the ground and hit her! She cried in pain as her body was slowly paralyzed, and when she tried channeling it into the wire…the metal wire just snapped! She dropped to her knees, and fell face first onto the ground. "You've lost," Sasuke told her quietly. "You can't even continue that pretense of stopping me now." He started to turn around to leave.

"So you're really going to be like Itachi now...good job on that Sasuke..." Sakura commented weakly, and Sasuke stopped in misstep as he looked back at her, his eyes widening in fury.

"I am nothing like that bastard. Say that again and I'll kill you," Sasuke told her, putting his chokuto right at the base of her neck. Sakura gulped very slightly, not that Sasuke noticed. But to Sakura, that sword was now VERY real to her… as just what Sasuke could do with it to her.

Instead of giving in to what her rational mind feared, Sakura merely gave Sasuke a wry grin despite her weakness. "Oh really? Tell me how you're different. You joined an Organization dedicated to war and the destruction of Konoha, just like Itachi. You are constantly trying to test your capability. You tried killing your best friends how many times? Need I go on? Face it Sasuke...you're Itachi's clone now."

She watched Sasuke's eyes widen, but he quickly shook it off. He pressed the sword closer on her neck, drawling blood. Scratch that her last thought: NOW it was very real _and_ sharp. "Shut up...SHUT UP! What would you know!? You don't know what it is like to have everything taken from you and killed right before your eyes! You're even less than Naruto in that regard. What suffering have you ever had to try and understand me?! I don't give a damn whether Konoha survives or not, but any of you get in my way, I'll kill you. Nothing is getting in my path to revenge!"

"For the past two years, Sasuke, I _have_ suffered. Because you were gone, because you abandoned everything, especially me. And Konoha doesn't matter?" Sakura asked him and he growled, trying not to hear her, while she was trying to forget that blade. "Your parents would be ashamed! Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-sama always lived for the village, don't you even remember that?"

"I abandoned you?" Sasuke repeated in disbelief. "You still haven't gotten over that? You really are pathetic!"

In his mind, he could hear the hawk and snake arguing, like white noise in the back. "_Kill her. Kill her now_!" The Snake told him as it slithered onto his shoulder, flicking its tongue at his cheek.

"_Idiot_," the Hawk said. "_For once in your life, listen to someone other than your pride!_"

Out of all the things he could have commented on, he chose to comment on that statement? She thought bewildered. Maybe she really was having a big impact on him. "Yes, you abandoned me, as well as everyone Sasuke. I loved you," She knew what her next words would be even if part of her couldn't believe it, or the truth of it. "…I…still do…" Sakura told him and his eyes widened in shock. She then looked down, taking a deep breath as she decided to take one final gamble. "If you really want to kill me, do it now."

"What?" Sasuke asked in disbelief. "You _want to die?"_

"No," she answered, managing to lift her head to look up at him, her eyes meeting his. "But if you're so determined to become a monster like Orochimaru… then I don't want to be around to see it. Not concerning the man I love… not when I had the opportunity to stop you."

_You won't be able to do it. You had several openings in our fight where you could have landed a lethal blow. If you really wanted to kill me, you could have done it already! The fact is you didn't means that there's still hope! I'm betting my life on that small hope! Not that I have much of a choice seeing how I can't move._

"How can you possibly still love me?" Sasuke asked her. "I'm a missing-nin. A traitor. I've tried to kill Naruto several times, as well as you now. I went to Orochimaru and threw you aside and you still love me? You're a hopeless…"

"…fool?" She finished, giving a soft laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"You're absolutely right," Sakura told him, shaking her head as if they were sharing some common joke. "How could I still be in love with someone like you? The thing is Sasuke… love isn't something you can control. It makes the most rational people do the most stupid things. Look at me…I'm telling the man who's about to behead me that I love him. It's ridiculous! Completely and utterly ridiculous and stupid! You ever hear of the executionee telling her executioner that she loves him? I know I haven't, yet I just said it. Love isn't something you can control. It wouldn't be love if you could."

She gave him a small, sad smile. "You would know that if you had felt love before, Sasuke. And because you chose to throw all those things away, I pity you." A single tear fell out of the corner of her left eye. "I love you, yet you're about to kill me… ironic, isn't it?" With that, she laid her head back on the ground Sasuke's sword still resting on her neck as she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and waited.

For several minutes, nothing happened. Except the pressure on Sakura's neck slightly increasing and decreasing. "What are you waiting for?" She asked softly, not daring to open her eyes and look at him. She would probably break out crying if she did. Who was she kidding? He was going to cut her head off… they both knew it. She truly was a fool. "I'm helpless. Can't move a muscle. No one can stop you. If you're going to go ahead and kill me, then please, just get it over with."

There he was, Sasuke, on the run again. In white shirt, blue pants, his rope belt and his crude style sandals, with his chokuto resting on her neck. And on the ground, her face in the dirt was Sakura. Paralyzed. Wearing that same pink shirt, shirt and black shorts she had worn back in the grass country. Though she went barefoot now instead of the standard kunoichi sandals, which showed off her nice legs quite avidly. Probably due to her earthbending, Sasuke thought. When she had started learning that bending art, he had no idea. Of course, there was one noticeable difference between them: Sakura was wearing a shinobi hitai-ite in her hair, while Sasuke wore none.

"…if you're going to do it…then get on with it…" he heard Sakura's voice.

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke rose his chokuto high above his head, and his arm began shaking. His two sides were now screaming at him, the snake telling him to do it, while the hawk telling him not to. Time itself seemed to freeze for him.

Kill her… or spare her…

WHICH SHOULD HE DO!?!?

"_Yesss…" _The white snake hissed to him. "_That'sss right… do it. Kill her. It'll be ssso easssy."_

"_You'd really stoop so low as to kill her like this!?" _The black hawk cried out in disbelief.

"_Of courssse he would,"_ The white snake said. "_He sssaid that he would kill anyone who got in hisss way. It'll be perfect practice for Itachi… we can cut hisss head off just asss easssily asss hersss."_

"_You can't kill her like this!" _The black hawk screamed desperately. "_If you had killed Naruto, at least that would had been in a fair and honorable fight! This isn't even a fight! It's down right murder! No, it's a butcher! You're no better than Itachi if you kill Sakura like this! She can't even move to defend herself because of you!"_

"_Ssso what?" _The white snake asked. _"All'sss fair in love and war. SSShe wasss allowed to fight and made a missstake which gave you an opening. You took it and now ssshe'sss paralyzed. Perfectly fair. Now all that'sss left isss the finishing blow."_

"_What about the love part!?"_ The black hawk retorted. "_Do you seriously think you'll get another girl to love you after all you've done!? You can't revive the clan on your own! You can't just kill her. She freakin loves you! Doesn't that mean anything to you!?"_

"_Of courssse it doesss," _The white snake answered, it's tongue flicking again. _"It'sss a perfect reassson to kill her."_

"_Where's the logic in that statement!?" _The black hawk demanded.

"_It'll gain usss the _Mangekyo SSSharingan," the snake answered.

At the words, Sasuke mentally froze. WHAT?

"_The hell!? How do you come up with that idea!?"_

"_Think about it…the requirement isss to kill your bessst friend. A girl that declaresss her love to you, you the one who isss about to kill her, sssurely fitsss the bill of bessst friend. Kill her and you'll gain the _Mangekyo SSSharingan!"

Was it true? Sasuke wondered, looking down at the girl. If he killed her… would it gain him that power? The power he would need to finally average his clan?

A girl that said she loved him. Said she loved him even though he was about to decapitate her. Yes…it might just be enough.

He gripped his sword tighter. So be it…

"_WAIT, DAMMIT!"_ The black hawk shouted, playing one last card. "_Look at her!"_

"_We are dumbasss." _The white snake said.

"_No, you idiot, I mean really look at her! She's crying!"_

Huh? Sasuke looked down. Sakura was making no visible movement. At least, that's what it looked like at first glare. Though allowing his Sharingan to get a closer look, he saw that Sakura was indeed shaking. Looking at the ground, he saw that it was wet. From her tears, he realized. But she just told him to kill her and get it over it…

"_You think she wants to die!?"_ The black hawk said, knowing now that had found a foothold to use. "_Look at her, she's terrified! She seriously thinks you're about to kill her, despite all her boasting and she's still trying to hide it! Even if she's deluding herself in her mind, her body knows otherwise! Any moment now, she's expecting your sword to cut through her flesh and bone!_

"_Who caresss?"_ The white snake asked.

"_WE DO!"_ The black hawk retorted. "_Killing her will do exactly what she said: make us become Itachi's clone! That's the last thing we want! We went to Orochimaru so we wouldn't play into Itachi's schemes and plans, that we wouldn't become his puppet! You remember that little crucial detail, right!? But you've become so obsessed with revenge you're now willing to become your brother's puppet anyway! That's NOT want we want to do. Kill her now like this, and not only will you become Itachi's clone and follow his plans, but you'll be killing the one person that still has faith in you to make right choice. She's wagering her life on that faith, even though she's completely terrified that you'll kill her despite that faith!"_

Sasuke shook his head at the bickering voices. Just shut up! He couldn't think! Oh, SCREW IT! He swung the sword down.

"_KILL HER!!" _The sword was five seconds away from striking.

"_SPARE HER!!!" _Four seconds.

"_KILL HER!!" _Three seconds

"_SPARE HER!!!" _Two seconds.

"_KILL HER!!!" "SPARE HER!!!" _One second.

He then slammed the sword down and struck home…

…embedded in the ground, though the blade had cut into Sakura's neck a slightly. That's how close it had been. If Sasuke had inched a little closer during his swing, with that power and speed, Sakura's head would had been removed from her neck. That's how close it came down to.

"I...can't kill you..." he told her, panting from his decision.

Sakura opened her eyes, noticing the blade so close to her and how it had actually cut her slightly. After giving a very grateful gulp, she mentally breathed a _big_ sigh of relief. Tsunade-shishiou would be proud, she thought. "Why?" she pressed, trying to ignoring the serious thumbing her of heart, or the feel of her neck bleeding. "Is the truth finally seeking in? Do you see what you become?"

Sasuke didn't answer her, he just looked at her, his sword and her neck as if not believing what just happened. Not sure what else to say or do, she gestured with her head to a nearby river. "If you looked at your reflection...do you know what you would see?"

Sasuke stumbled over to the river, and looked in. To his horror...instead of seeing his own face...he saw...Itachi's. He continued to stare at the reflection, shook his head, and looked again…it was Itachi's face again.

"Tell me..." Sakura started softly. "What do you see?"

"...you...were right...I was taking Itachi's route...that's who I saw..." Sasuke told her in disbelief.

"It's not too late..." Sakura told him softly but firmly. "You haven't crossed the line, like Orochimaru has. You've come close, but you're not there yet. You can still do the right thing...reject Orochimaru, reject Itachi...reject your hatred and need for revenge Sasuke," Sakura finished.

Sasuke closed his eyes, where he could visibly see the hawk and snake arguing. For what seemed like an eternity, he watched them argue. In the background, he could hear all the people in his life - his father, his mother, Naruto, Sakura, Orochimaru, the Third - all of them, telling him what to do...

"_Don't be like your brother,"_ his father had told him. Acknowledgement.

"_At night, all he can talk about is you, Sasuke," _his mother had told him. Hope.

"_I'll bring you back to the village, even if I have to break all the bones in your body!" _Naruto had shouted at him at the Valley of the End. Loyalty.

"_I love you with all my heart!"_ Sakura had told him before he left her on that bench unconscious. Love.

"_You really are brothers. I sense power in your eyes that will surpass Itachi's."_ Orochimaru's words to him in the Forest of Death. Temptation.

"_Protecting those closest to you… that's the true power of the Shinobi!"_ The Sandaime's words, known to all in the village, spoken to him personally the night after his clan had been slaughtered. Principle.

The snake and hawk continued to shout at him, and he couldn't take it any more! _"SHUT UP!" _Sasuke yelled at both of them, throwing his arms back. _"JUST…SHUT…__**UP!!!"**_ He shoved his hands forward, and like a gust of wind, both hawk and snake were violently pushed away, further and further into the recessions of his mind until he could not only see them, but hear them as well.

And yet…doing so made him feel…strange…incomplete. Like he just lost most of his…self. He tried to frown, yet he found that he didn't care. He felt his face go impassive, neutral. Like it had been all that time with Orochimaru, yet more so now. He looked into the water again, yet this time, he saw a head, but no definite face on it. After several moments, he spoke out loud. "I've made my choice… I'm leaving…"

Sakura felt her heart break at the comment. After all that… she had failed. It was almost too much to bear. She thought when he didn't kill her, he was finally going to make that right choice…but…she looked back down at the ground. Had her execution just merely been delayed?

Before she could say anything, he spoke again. "But not to Sound."

That snapped her back to reality. "What?" Sakura asked him, not sure if she heard right.

Sasuke turned and faced her, his face neutral, his eyes emotionless, yet he stared at her with such ferocity that it made her shiver slightly. "I'm leaving, but not to rejoin the Sound."

"Then…come back with me…" Sakura told him. "I can vouch for you… Konoha, Naruto and the others…"

"No," Sasuke told her firmly. "That won't help. I don't know myself anymore now, thanks to you. I don't know what to do, what to achieve, how I would achieve it. Nothing. I need to find those answers."

"You can find those answers at Konoha," Sakura started.

"No, I can't. I need to go somewhere else. Somewhere I can look for those answers anew. Fresh. I can't do that from what I've knew up until now. Konoha. Sound. It's the same. I need to go somewhere else."

Sakura looked down a bit. "I see…"

"And you're coming with me."

It was like a sledgehammer slammed into her stomach. "W-what?"

"I said: you're coming with me." He repeated walking towards her.

"Sasuke," Sakura started, completely confused. "I can't just…"

"You don't seem to understand." Sasuke continued as he knelt down, placing a finger underneath her chin and bring her head up, their eyes meeting once again. "This isn't a request, you don't have a say in the matter. You're coming."

Despite the circumstances, a slight feeling of disgust in her now. He was talking to her like she was some sort of thing! That's not how he had acted even a few minutes ago! During that time, he had seen her as a nuisance, but also as his last conscience! What the hell happened to him in such a short amount of time! "Sasuke…" She said in a low voice. "I'm not going. Not like this. I'm not about to just drop everything and leave with you just because you say so!"

"Too bad." Sasuke told her. "You're the one that opened the door and made me this way, so you're going to see it through to the end. Whether you like it or not."

"Well, you can just forget it!" Sakura was surprised that she found the will to shout, but didn't question why. What the hell was he talking about?! _She_ made him this way!? "After all this… you tell me to just leave to some unknown place with you like that! Regardless that I say no! You're Chidori Nagashi won't last forever and you can't just keep zapping me with it! I'm a shinobi, just like you! Sooner or later, you'll drop your guard and I'll be able to make my escape. Not even you can watch me all the time!"

Sasuke was silent as he withdrew his finger, resulting in her chin slamming into the ground as he walked back to the water. For a moment, he just stood there. Then he reached into his back pocket and withdrew a scroll. From what Sakura could see, he just summoned two items…a small jar and a canteen? "Sasuke…" She said slowly, feeling nervous now. "Just what are you doing?"

He didn't answer as he knelt by the water and filled the canteen. He then walked back to her. He knelt down, grabbed her shoulder and in one swift motion, rolled her on to her back. As she looked back at Sasuke's face, she saw that he was opening that small bottle. "What are you going to do?" She asked him again, not knowing what to expect, he tipped the bottle downward and a small pill fell onto his hands. Then he resealed the bottle and looked at her.

His hand reached down and pressed hard on her cheeks, making her mouth open. Desperately, she shook her head, trying to break free of his grip. "What are you…!!" She started, but was cut off as he tossed the pill down her throat. She quickly tried to spit it out, but the canteen of water was poured down her throat next. She resisted as much as she could, but eventually, she swallowed. Pill and all. Finally, Sasuke let her go and she felt, weaker. Strange. Lost. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?!" She roared.

"You're poisoned," Sasuke told her matter-of-factly.

Sakura felt the color drain from her face. Did he really just say that?

"But not the way you're thinking." Sasuke said to her. "This is a little project that Kabuto has been working on. It's a special poison designed to specifically counteract your chakra system. While it's in your body, it'll taint your chakra. Meaning you won't be able to use your chakra at all. No ninjutsu. No genjutsu. No bending. Not even that insane strength of yours, which my Sharingan told me was the result of you gathering your chakra and releasing it all at once. You'll just be a normal, little girl."

Sakura was dumbstruck. Could just a thing actually exist? But if it was a type of poison, then eventually it would run its course and…

"I know what you're thinking. And it won't work," Sasuke said, interrupting her thoughts. "As long as there's chakra in your body, the poison will be able to feed off it and continue to work. And the poison will never completely drain you of your chakra, just enough so that you can't use it, but it'll still be there. And don't think that even Tsunade of the Sannin would be able to cure you. The only possible antidote is made with special ingredients known gathered from remote places in the world. Not even she would be able to make one herself without those."

Sasuke stood up. "And one more thing you should consider: this poison has never been tested, so who knows what kind of side effects you'll start eventually feeling. It may even prove lethal to you." He patted his back pouch. "And I do have the antidote on me. If you'll want it, you'll have to come with me and you'll have to come now because once I leave, you won't find me again. You'll never be a shinobi again."

Sakura was silent through all of this, her eyes low. "You're dead serious about this…" She said. "You're going to make me go with you, even go as far as to drug me… you realize that this will be kidnapping, right?"

"I'm already a missing nin." Sasuke reminded her. "One more offense on top of that won't hurt me. You're coming and we can do it one of two ways." He held up a single finger. "One, we can continue this way: with you paralyzed, unable to move, completely at my mercy." He held up a second finger. "Or two: you come with me of your own free will on your own two feet… and you swear to me on your own life that you won't run, you won't try to steal the antidote, you won't try to fight back and that you'll follow me wherever I go. Even if it's back to Orochimaru. Now…which will it be? Either way, you're coming with me. It's just merely a question of how."

Sakura could hardly believe what Sasuke was saying. This couldn't be happening, but she could see now that he was completely serious. She looked down. "What…what will happen to me?" She asked softly.

"I don't know." Sasuke answered. "I don't know what will happen. Perhaps I'll make the decision to go back to Konoha and ask for redemption. Maybe I'll go back to Sound. Maybe I really will kill you next time. Maybe I'll just let you go. Who knows. But you're coming."

Sakura felt tears starting to form in her eyes. She gulped and said. "…all…alright…I'll… do it." At least if I go this way, it'll be by my own choice, not his. Maybe that will give me the chance to get through that head of his, and make the right decision.

Sasuke bent down and grabbed her by the shoulders, and picked her up. He then stood her upright on her own two bare feet, making her face him as if she was standing of her own accord and not with his support. He looked at her, then snapped. "Swear it."

Sakura looked down, praying that the gods, Konoha and the others would forgive her for this. "I…I swear…I swear on my life that I… I won't run…I won't try to steal the antidote, I won't try to fight back and … and… and I'll follow you to the ends of the earth…" She gulped. "Even to…to…Sound…" This had to be a bad dream! "I swear all this… on my own life…" She felt sick, incredibly sick. She looked at him. "There…happy now? Now can you undo…"

"No," Sasuke answered. "It's simply a matter of timing. And it will end in about twenty-five minutes. Until then, you'll just have to make do." He looked at her, and then, while still holding her with one hand, took off her headband. "Hey!" Sakura protested immediately, her hair falling out of place now. "That actually means something to some of us!"

"Maybe," Sasuke conceded. "But not to you anymore." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and brought her close to him, their faces just inches apart. His next words seemed to burn the very core of her being. "You're mine now. Body and soul."

Why did he have to put it like that!? Sakura wondered miserably. It felt so…so wrong! She watched helplessly as Sasuke tossed her headband into the river, her own heart sinking in her chest as she watched it disappear in the water and go away. A few tears, streaked down her cheeks. "Can…can I at least…say… goodbye?" She pleaded with him.

His response was picking her up and flinging her over his right shoulder, where her head fell down by his chest. She couldn't help but blush she felt his powerful and strong chest against her face.

"No." Sasuke told her. And with that, he ran off into the darkness. Where he was going, neither one of them knew.

* * *

A/N: Well, as you can see the battle itself I left unaltered. I saw no point in changing it and that wasn't the part I wanted to go and mess with anyway: it was the 'psychological battle' and it's aftermath that I wanted to go and change. Especially when reading the line "Yes, you abandoned me, as well as everyone Sasuke. I loved you…I…still do…", most notably the last three words. That just shouted numerous possibilities that I can do when I read it.

I have to admit that if this story turns out even half of how I imagined it to go, it's going to take a darker tone than anything else I've written. Because of that, plus the fact I already have two stories I'm working on and that I wrote all this on a whim, this story is going to be last on the priority list to update. Because of that darker tone, I'm rating this story 'M' just to be safe.

_I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon Studios respectively. Also Bending the Jutsu belongs to Son Kenshin_


	2. The Chosen Path

A/N: Just a friendly reminder that this story is to feature a darker tone and this chapter introduces the beginnings of… how shall we say?... the uglier sides humanity. Don't like this sort of thing? Then I advice not to read.

Chapter 2: The Chosen Path

Sakura felt herself jerk on Sasuke's shoulder as he continued to run through the Earth Kingdom forest. He had been running for about ten minutes now, seemingly in just a random destination. Not that she should be surprised, he had flat out told her he didn't know where they were going. She estimated that they were roughly thirty kilometers from where they had been and still wasn't breathing hard. Say what you will about Sasuke, he was most definitely skilled and physically fit.

She knew Kakashi would be coming and he would make use of those dogs of his and she hoped that they would be able to pick up her scent and come after them. Though as if Sasuke had read her mind, he had applied some sort spray to his feet and the surrounding area, as well as taking random turns as he had run along. She wasn't exactly sure what Sasuke had done, but she had to face facts: no one from the group would be able to help her; she was on her own.

Alone with Sasuke… how often in her younger years and even current ones had she daydreamed about that? Of course, those dreams had been much more fun loving, completely happy and above all else: romantic. True, he had been a missing-nin and a traitor to the village, but she had no more control of her daydreams than she did about her… personal fantasies. Sure, some might call it traitorous to experience such thoughts, but what was wrong about simply dreaming about a nicer future with someone you loved? It was not like she was actively helping Sasuke escape apprehension, or revealing village secrets to Orochimaru and Sound. It was just dreams and if people gave up on their dreams, then what was the point in living?

Still… her current situation was definitely _not_ among the various scenarios she had envisioned. She never considered that the fact that Sasuke would practically _kidnap_ her (stealing her from her bedroom window for a romantic getaway, sure but not forcefully taking her against her will!), poisoned her, took her kunai holster and weapon's pouch made her swear that she would not try to escape and on top of that, threaten to kill her and he nearly killed her already! How in the world did she get herself involved in this mess!? Sasuke had blamed her for his sudden change in behavior and demeanor, but what the hell did that mean? She had been paralyzed on the ground and all he did was look at a reflection in the water! Was he suggesting that her proposition of him looking in the water somehow was responsible for his current actions? From looking in water!? It was completely ludicrous!

She shook her head in an attempt to clear it as Sasuke made another quick turn. Well… despite how it happened, here she was. The question she should be asking herself was not how she ended up in this situation – no matter how much she wanted to know! – but what she was going to do about it now? She wasn't sure just how close Sasuke would keep her, or how short of leash he would keep her on, but surely she would have a few opportunities and windows that she could take advantage of.

As her mind attempted to think of an answer, Sasuke stopped abruptly. Confused, Sakura looked around. "What is it?" She asked.

In response, Sasuke merely pointed with his other arm. Straining her eyes, Sakura looked in the direction he was pointing. From what she could tell, it looked like a few buildings. An Earth Kingdom village perhaps?

"We will stay there for the night,"

"Whatever you say, _master,"_ Sakura replied sarcastically. In response, Sasuke shifted her body on his shoulder and took off again. It didn't take him long to reach the village. It was quite small. Twenty… maybe thirty buildings total, all surrounded by a small wall, which was only about five meters tall. All the buildings were a bit small – the tallest looked only about three or four stories high – and all looked a bit rundown. One of the poorer villages, it seemed.

With Ba Sing Se in the hands of Azula, Sakura wonder how long this village would remain free, or any of the others in the surrounding area for that matter. As she looked at the other buildings Sasuke began walking to one of the taller ones. With the little light available, she could see a sign hanging down from the front door: Dead End Hotel.

"How appropriate…" Sakura commented dryly. What were the odds of coming to hotel with the both the words 'Dead' and 'End' in them? She cranked her neck to look Sasuke in the face. "You sure know how to take a girl out."

He gave fierce breath out of his nose as he pushed the door open and walked inside. It wasn't that large, two rooms – one large lobby area and the front desk – and the place was just screamed criminal underworld. In the lobby area were about two dozen men, all gambling, drinking, laughing, playing cards and looking like they were about to stick a knife in the other people. "I rest my case," Sakura said, feeling slightly uncomfortable as everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at them, dead silent. There were no other women in eyesight and she saw that as both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because she wouldn't have to witness the dregs of society amusing themselves with other women.

It was a curse because that might they would all go for her now. And why would they think they couldn't? She wasn't exactly walking; she was thrown over Sasuke's shoulder like a sack of meat. As far as they were concerned, it was just a newcomer was coming with a prize. A very tempting prize for this type of crowd.

To her relief, Sasuke neither made eye contact with the men, nor slowed his pace. He walked directly up to the front desk, where the owner, a big, robust man with a very large amount of facial hair and one eye, wearing brown ugly clothes. His working eye rose it's brow at Sakura over Sasuke's shoulder. "Nice catch," he said after a time. "If this is your idea of a honeymoon, then you need to rethink your strategy."

Snickering was heard throughout the lobby, and Sakura felt her face go red hot. Of all the things he could have said, he had to go and say something like that? Oh… what she wouldn't give to have her strength and bending back, if only for a few minutes. Sasuke didn't react at all to the man's statement. "We require a room."

Laughter roared throughout the room now and Sakura was trading her wish to just be completely invisible. Just what were these men thinking the two of them were going to do?! She made an uncomfortable grunt as she shook her head at that thought. Scratch that thought, she knew _exactly _what these creeps were thinking that she and Sasuke would do alone in a room.

The owner shook his head as he put his arm left – the hand was missing two fingers, Sakura saw – and leaned on the countered. "Listen, _kids,"_ He said. "This place isn't your playground. He gestured to the lobby with his other hand. "And these other 'kids' don't play nice. They play for keeps. So, unless you're here to play the game and wager your dame on the table – "

"EXCUSE ME!?" Sakura shouted, while the men continued laughing in the background.

" – you'd best clear out now," The owner continued, ignoring the girls interjection. "No ones going to look out for you and no one's going to care what happens to you." He leaned closer to them and said quietly. "And everyone… is going to be coming for you. And _her."_

Sakura was definitely not liking the idea of staying in this sort of place. She glanced over at Sasuke to tell him so, but the look in his face stopped her words from forming. Again, Sasuke's face lacked any emotion on his face. He merely stared at the owner, making no indication that he had even heard what the man had said. If he did give any hint of expression, the closest would be boredom. He reached downward into a pocket and pulled out a small, but swollen bag. Sasuke calmly tossed the bag to the man, who caught it easily with his good hand. "One room. One night. And no questions asked."

"The kid's dead set on this," one of the men said out loud. A mutter of agreement was heard next filled with amusement.

The man's eye looked at Sasuke hard, then he slowly opened the bag and his eyebrows shot up, as small in-audio sounds escaped from his mouth. That act cut off the laughter in the background immediately and Sakura felt she knew why. Sasuke had just shown that he carried a large sum of money and with these people – for all intents and purposes – that was a deadly addiction.

The owner seemed to realize the exact same thing as Sakura did because his eye began darting around the place. Involuntarily, Sakura's head jerked backwards at the crowd, her eyes scanning the men. Looking anew at them this time around, she could see that half of them had various weapons on their person, such as: knives, swords and clubs. Nearly all of them were muscular. She diverted her eyes downward and saw that many of them were shoeless. Now being barefoot wasn't solid confirmation of being an earthbender, but it was a damn close one.

She just hoped a fight didn't break out. It wasn't that she was worried about her weaken condition, or that Sasuke would lose, but if he resorted to firebending to fight back, that would bring some serious trouble.

That's when Sakura detected a small movement out of the corner of her right eye. Quickly glancing in that direction, she saw that one of the man stood up, reaching for the sword at his hip. Before she could say anything, the man's hand went flying back to the wall, a kunai embedded in his palm and pinning it to the wall. The man gave a fierce scream as he grabbed the kunai and attempted to dislodge it from his hand without success.

Her eyes quickly darted back to see Sasuke's arm stretched out, though his face was still impassive and staring at the owner. So… he had noticed as well. Was his hearing so great that he heard the movement and simply acted first, or had it been something else entirely? As his arm lowered, Sasuke continued to stare at the one-eyed owner, waiting.

Slowly, a grin appeared on the man's face. "You know k… _young man_…" he corrected himself as he knelt down longer beneath his desk. "You'll do just fine here, after all." He rose back up and casually tossed a key on the desk. He then gave a small gesture with his head to the right. "Down the hallway, second room to the left at the end. Very quiet…" He leaned forward as he looked directly in Sakura's eyes, which made her blood run cold. "And…very…_private."_ He gave a soft chuckle at that.

Sakura slumped her head at that. She didn't want to hear this kind of talk, her situation was bad enough as is, she didn't need to have Sasuke thinking about… _adult matters_… on this little journey. "… just put me out of my misery…" The prodigy made no response to her comment. He merely grabbed the key with his free hand, readjusted the girl on his shoulder yet again and took off towards the hallway for the room. He walked towards the second room on the left at the end.

It was fairly large, much to Sakura's surprise. It was quite spacious, with a several chairs, and a table. There were two small doors in the room as well, most likely a closest and a lavatory. It was carpeted and with several lamps alongside the walls. There was also a small mirror over what looked like a sink and cabinet. Then there was the one factor in all of this that really surprised her and it was not the fact that this room was surprising clean.

It was the one big bed in the middle of the room.

That's right… _one._

She didn't know why just having one bed came to such a shock to her, but it did. It's not like Sasuke would… do anything to her while they were alone. He wasn't that type of man that would take advantage of a woman, especially when that woman had no way of resisting.

Was he? Three years with Orochimaru could change anyone for the worst.

Sasuke casually strolled across the room to the bed and dropped Sakura down on it, face first. "Yes… the bed is quite comfortable, if that's what you were wondering…" she told him flatly as she felt his hand grab her shoulder and rolled her on her back. It was almost a mirror position when Sasuke fed her that poison and Sakura was getting that same uneasy and uncomfortable feeling now as she did back then. Her bright green eyes stared strait into Sasuke's cold dark eyes and for the first time… she was seriously beginning to wonder what he was going to do. He wouldn't… he wouldn't really…force himself on her… would he?

That's when Sasuke's hand came down and grabbed her chin, turning her head to the side. "Sasuke…" She asked uncomfortably. Again, she tried to move her body, but couldn't even manage to move her fingers. He turned her head to the other side and her feeling of discomfort increased. "Wh-what… are… you…"

"Checking you out." Sasuke answered, removing his hand from her head.

WHAT!?

Did he really just say that!? Who the hell was this imposter!? There was no way this was Sasuke, even if he was acting as strange as he was! He couldn't… he couldn't had said that… And naturally, the reason why he said that weighed heavily on her mind.

As if to confirm her fears, Sasuke's hands drifted down to the bottom of her shirt and he began to pull it up. No! He couldn't be doing this to her! She wasn't ready for something like this! She didn't want her first time to be involuntarily! She hadn't agreed to anything like this when she made that oath to Sasuke! "Sasuke… wait! Please! You don't need to do this!"

Her shirt was halfway up was Sasuke merely said. "It has to be done."

Sakura felt her fear grew to an all new peak now. Had to be done!? What the hell was he thinking!? She vaguely remembered his goal to resurrect his clan, but he was willing to go to these lengths!? To the extent he would forcefully take a woman against her will, while she couldn't move!? Was he really that desperate… or… She gulped… or had Sasuke fallen so far that he found amusement in taking women as playthings, just like the men in the lobby had thought? Was this what she had to look forward to, every night while she was with him?

Desperation growing very fast now, she tried to make her body move as she felt her shirt brought up to her head and past it. No! She couldn't allow this to happen! Move! Move! Was what she kept ordering at her body. She could feel her arms respond slowly, and she was able to flex her fingers, but that was all. She still couldn't feel her legs, or be able to sit up. All she could move her head like always. And if Sasuke really was the dirtbag he seemed to be, he could simply zap her again with the Chidori Nagashi and have his way with her then! No! She could feel her eyes water as desperation was replaced with despair. "Sasuke… please… I'm begging you… don't…" she shook her head as her she felt her arms move past her head and her shirt removed completely. "Don't do this… I'll…" she stopped because she didn't want to say anything. That was sure to make things worse. All she could do was diver her eyes downward to the articles of clothing she still wore, her black shorts covered by her light pink shirt and the white bra around her chest.

"What's your problem?" Sasuke asked in that no emotional voice of his. Even now, there was no malice, no irritation, no eagerness, no… sympathy at all in him; neither his voice, nor his face. He simply looked at her, like a vulture circling the carcass as he tossed her shirt to the ground. He then took off his own shirt and held it in his hand, while he moved his other hand back towards her face, to which Sakura did the only thing she could do.

As soon as his hand was within reach, she reared up her head and bit down on his fingers as hard as she could.

Even after being bitten, Sasuke's face betrayed little emotion, but his eyes went shot up wide, while he jerked his hand back from her. He looked at her as his face grew hard, while tears slowly trickled down her face. "Sasuke… I…"

"You want to do this the hard way?" Sasuke asked, his voice soft and cold. "Fine." He tossed his shirt over his shoulder and reached for that damned scroll again and summoned several ropes. He took a small one in his hands and walked towards her. "I find your reactions to this unbecoming of you, Sakura."

Sakura felt the tears continue to flow as Sasuke – making sure to keep his hand away from her mouth – as he roughly grabbed her shoulder and rolled back on her back. She continued to cry softly as she felt Sasuke grab her arms and put them behind her back, her right wrist on top of her left one and that rope going around her wrists, growing tighter with each circulation. "And I can't believe you'd sink so low as to do this to me…" She said as tears stained her pillow, her breathing short and her heart racing. She could imagine what Sasuke would do next… ripping off the rest of her clothes… then taking off his… and… she cried softly into her pillow, trying not to think of what the next few minute would bring.

"Since you intend to resist me from looking at your injuries, if this is what it takes to treat them, so be it," Sasuke said as he continued to tie the ropes harder. "Unless you want another dose of Chidori in your system."

At his words, Sakura felt herself freeze. Wounds? Why did he go and say that? Wasn't he… wasn't he going to… slowly, she cranked her neck at the Uchiha. "Sasuke… just… just what do you intend to do to me?"

"Tend to any of your wounds," Sasuke repeated, tightening the rope around her wrists even more at that, making her squirm a little bit.

Sakura wasn't sure she believed that. Why take off her shirt if he intended to just to tend to any injuries she had? And why resort to binding her if he simply wanted to treat her? Not sure what to do, she simply said. "Do you take me for a fool?" She asked softly as she felt the blood in her wrist begin to chock off. She was already in hot water now, so what did she have to lose by being mouthy? She already expected the worst from him. "I healed myself during our fight."

"I remember," Sasuke confirmed. "But as long as you are with me, I intend to make sure you stay in top form, especially if you're going to fight me every step of the way. If I have to force feed you, bath you, and tend to your injuries by force the entire time, I will. I'm not letting you off the hook that easily." He gave a final tug on her restraint, causing her to flinch. "Now… are you going to behave or do I need more rope?" He held out his hand, which began to crackle and glow yellow. "Or would you prefer we just skip to the Nagashi now."

Sakura felt her tears stop, but not her fears. "So… you… you don't intend to…"

Sasuke's gaze at her never falter, never waived. "Intend to do what?"

She gulped, hardly believing what she was about to say. Part of her wondered if by admitting her fears, Sasuke would act on them anyway. "You… don't intend… to…" she felt the cold, wet sweet drip down her face as she continued. "to… remove… all of my… _clothes…_ and…" she looked down, not able to say the rest.

Sasuke seemed to understand exactly what Sakura was unable to say. "You've got a perverted mind."

This time, Sakura felt herself gain a new reaction: embarrassment. And it overrode any linger feelings of desperation and fear. "Well… _sorry!_ What was I supposed to think!? You start touching me all over, take off my shirt with my consent, and take off your own on top of that! I begged you to stop and you go so far as to tie up my hands and threaten to do more! You had me scared that you were going to – "

"If you are done," Sasuke said, cutting her off. "Shall I get started?"

Sakura clamped her mouth shut at that, as those feelings of discomfort and fear began to grow again. Her eyes gazed at her shirt on the floor, the down at the rest of the clothes still on her body, specifically the bra she still wore. "Do… you…" She stopped as she considered how to phrase this. "intend… to… _check out…_ the rest of me?"

"The only parts of you I attacked was your upper body," He reached around and touched the side of his neck. "And the back of your neck. I have no desire to strip you completely naked and look at your body, much less have sex with you. Forcefully or otherwise."

Sakura buried her face in the pillow. Why did he have to be so blunt about it? It made her feel that much worse. "I understand," She spoke softly, not moving from her position. "If that's all you intend to do… fine." She moved her arms slightly, feeling that she the paralysis was slowly wearing off, she was finding it easier to move now. "Now… if you don't mind…" She raised her hands a little. "You don't need this on me anymore."

Sasuke made no move towards her and Sakura began wondering if he really was a sicko bastard that enjoyed this sort of thing. "Please…" Sakura said, keeping her face in the pillow. She didn't want to look at him right now. Not when there was a real possibility he might keep her like this. If he did… she didn't know what she was going to do. "I… promise to… _behave_ myself." She told him, repeating the word he used previously. She knew that many would think that her being humble about this – as opposed to furious – made no sense at all, but as far as she was concerned, she felt this was the smarter choice. She didn't want Sasuke to think that she would be rebellious and fight him at every single step. That would definitely make sure her situation got ugly. She wanted to tone him down, get him to be able to trust and see that there could be mutual understanding between them, not decide that she was more trouble than she was worth.

That's when she felt pressure against her wrists slowly decrease. A few minutes later, the rope was completely off. Daring for a look, she lifted her face from the pillow and saw that Sasuke was gather the rope in his hands and tossing it on the floor next to her discarded shirt. Ignoring the urge to rub her wrists, she simply moved her arms to her side and waited. She saw him rip a small segment of his shirt as he came near her. He sat on the bed and his hand drifted to the side of her neck, the same area his chokuto had cut into her. He gently moved her hair out of the way, then began to wipe the blood away with his shirt piece. "The bloods a bit dry, and it looks like the cut didn't go as deep as it looked," Sasuke told her as he worked.

"If… if you can…" Sakura started. When Sasuke didn't say anything or hint she should stop, she continued. "Put that in water. Clean water. That'll help clean the wound better."

Sasuke didn't react to her comment at first. After a moment or two, he got off the bed and walked over the cabinet and used the sink there, while Sakura was tried of lying on and decided to sit up for the time being. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stretched out her upper body and arms. And that felt good to do. Once Sasuke was done with the sink, he walked back over to her, making no comment that she had moved any. He merely looked at strait in the eyes and she nodded. She tucked her legs underneath her, turning her around for him to get to her neck again.

"Does it hurt?" Sasuke asked in that same damned monotone voice of his as he dabbed that wet cloth against her skin. Could he at least fake some concern in his voice when he asked questions like that? She guessed that was the closest she would get about him showing any genuine concern to her.

"It does sting a little," she admitted carefully. Glancing back at him. "I guess that only makes sense, seeing how the strike was intended to decapitate me before you stopped yourself, but it seems you didn't hit any major arteries." To that Sasuke made no comment, he merely continued his work. "We'll need to bandage it as well. If you're willing."

To that, Sasuke merely grunted a 'hmm' as he withdrew the shirt piece and rung it out. He then stretched it out as far as he could then started wrapping it around her neck. The action made Sakura's breathing crisp and her heartbeat beat that much harder. She couldn't help but feel like he was putting a noose around her neck and her mind was expecting a sudden and abrupt drop any moment now. Or a leash. A way to control her completely. She briefly wondered which was worse. Trying to calm herself, she merely looked away so Sasuke couldn't see her face. She was the one that suggested banding her neck, after all and she kicked herself for thinking such a way. Sasuke wasn't about to kill her, least of all by hanging her. At least… she hoped he wouldn't choose to do so.

"I said: turn around."

Sakura jerked slightly as she looked back at Sasuke, waiting and staring at her. Her hand instinctively went to her neck and she could feel the makeshift bandage. "Sorry," She told him. "I just… let my mind wander for a minute…" She quickly glanced up at the ceiling and muttered. "Just something stupid." Hoping that he would not ask her to elaborate.

"Turn around," Sasuke ordered again.

Complying, she turned around so that her front was facing him again as opposed to her back. "Raise your arms." Gradually, she complied. With her mimicking the gesture of surrender (a word that made her flinch quite badly mentally), Sasuke was able to get a clear view of her ribcage and stomach. Slowly, he reached out and placed his hand on her ribcage, feeling it. "Other side," Sakura commented, remembering the direct kick he had scored on her during their fight which had broken a rib.

Sasuke's hand moved to the other side, feeling it to see it anything was still broken or any other such mishaps. "I told you that I had healed it earlier…" She said softly. "You even commented that it was impressive…" she gave a short pause as she added. "Don't you remember?"

Sasuke looked directly into her eyes again, but made no further comment. He withdrew his hand, allowing her to put her arms down. "Anything where sore?" Sakura merely shook her head. "Enjoy the bed for now," He told her, withdrawing his hand and standing strait up. "There's no telling when you might get another chance at one." He turned around and walked to a corner and knelt down there, sitting. Then to Sakura's surprise, he seemed to fall asleep in that position.

Sakura just stared at his form. He wasn't even interested in sleeping in a bed at all? She briefly wondered if his sole motivation for getting a room in the first place was to allow her the option to sleep in one. She shook her head at the thought, not seeing Sasuke being that considerate, different mental state or not. Not coming up with any satisfactory answer, she got to her feet and walked over to her shirt on the floor. Gratefully, she quickly pulled it back over her head. She pursed her lips, somehow...she had to send a message back to the rest of the group.

She didn't want to wake him, she couldn't dare. So she walked back to the bed and sat on it, leaning against the headrest. She brought her knees to her chest and hugged her legs, trying to think of her next move. One small mistake and Sasuke would be all over… and she did not want to think of what he would do then. So for an hour, she waited. During that time, she thought and tried to come up with a plan.

Okay… how should she leave her message? She didn't trust any of the men in the lobby area and that included the owner. They were more likely to jump on her than help her and if it came to that, Sasuke would definitely hear about it and her situation would be that much worse. Should she try to leave something behind in this room, showing that she at least was alive? Like what? All she had was the clothes she wore. She briefly put a hand through her hair and considered. What if she left some strands of hair behind? Pink hair wasn't exactly common place. But… that relied on the others being able to come to this place, a place they had no knowledge of. And without some sort of directions to get here, they would probably never find it. Then what should she do? Unable to come up with an answer that would work, she tried to consider other options.

She could run. He was sleeping now. She might have lost her chakra, but that didn't mean she lost her physical abilities. She still had her Taijutsu skills, even if she didn't have the same strength behind them.

"_I…I swear…I swear on my life that I… I won't run…I won't try to steal the antidote, I won't try to fight back and … and… and I'll follow you to the ends of the earth… Even to…to…Sound… I swear all this… on my own life…"_

She shook her head furiously at that. Who cared what she said? She didn't have much of a choice! Besides… _she _was the victim here! Breathing heavily, she tried to calm down and get her mind back on track. Okay… Sasuke had taken many turns while running, but they hadn't gone that far from the campsite and the others were sure to be looking for her still. If she could get a good start… she might be able to get back in the general area and Kakashi's dogs would do that rest.

But… Sasuke had told her that if she left now… Sasuke had told her that she would never find him again… and that would leave her poisoned. Even if they did find him again, it could be too late for her by then, or he could have destroyed it to spite her. So what good would running do for her?

The answer came almost immediately as she looked at Sasuke. She needed that antidote. Sasuke had made the point clear that even if she left, she would still have that drug in her. The longer that it was in her, the more of a danger she would be in, not to mention that she was considerably weaker now because of it. She gave Sasuke a hard look from where she stood, her eyes searching every inch of him.

Where would he keep the antidote? In his summon scroll? That seemed the most obvious place, but if that was true, then she was in deep trouble. That summon scroll would require chakra to use naturally, as well as Sasuke's own blood to unlock it. That same scroll contained her weapons and other supplies as well. So… even if she could use her chakra, she wouldn't be able to use the scroll with her own blood. Her gaze looked else to Sasuke's kunai holster, then the weapons pouch. That was the only two other places he could have the antidote… or the poison.

She blinked as she considered. What if she took the poison itself? Sasuke said that the antidote itself was made from only from the remote places of the world, but that meant that it was still possible to make an antidote. Besides… Sasuke wasn't a medical nin and Tsunade-sama was the _best_ in the world. If she could get that poison, she and Tsunade as well as the entire medical staff if need be could examine the contents and know exactly what they needed to create their own. But… where would the poison itself be?

She put her hands on her head, trying to remember what Sasuke did with that. He initially summoned it from his scroll… then filled up the canteen… then turned her over and forced her to take it… then… what? She strained her memory, trying to remember. She had been so focused on what Sasuke was saying, she didn't pay attention to what he was doing. _Think!_ She shouted at herself mentally, as she tried to recall the scene. Sasuke stood up… the poison and canteen were both in his hands… he reached back…

… he put them in his weapon's pouch…

Sakura's hands dropped from the side of her head. He put the poison in his weapon's pouch. She looked at him anew, specifically that pouch. He didn't put the poison back in the scroll, it was in his weapon's pouch. That was reachable to her. All she had to do was carefully pick his pocket and…

She stopped herself right there before she lost her head in that wild idea. _I'm powerless now...and he has trigger reflexes._ She cursed herself for making that promise to him, and slumped back in defeat. She couldn't just give up… could she? No… she had to do something… anything. Even trying and failing would be better than just giving up! But… that failing part was exactly the problem. If she failed… she shook her head as she tried to make a decision. Any decision.

Finally, after an hour she did. She slowly got off the bed and moved towards him. She was going to take the poison and run like hell to the camp. If she was fast – and lucky enough – she should be able to get back to the general direction, round up the others and get back to this place before Sasuke ever woke up. She took a deep breath as she moved her foot forward. Then the next one. And another. And another. Within seven steps, she got within reach of him. Feeling sweat trickle on her head, she quickly wiped it away as she knelt down and reached.

As she did, Sasuke suddenly shifted in his sleep.

_Stay sleeping...stay sleeping..._ She begged as she moved her hand into the pouch. She felt around and realized she was touching that damned scroll itself. _Might as well_. She told herself as she quietly withdrew the item. She then continued to feel around until she felt a smaller object that had to be the poison. She took that too and swiftly withdrew a few steps away from the Uchiha, who still didn't move. With both the scroll and the poison in her hands, she quickly went across the room to the door, but when her hand reached for the door, she found she couldn't move. Gasping, she looked back, but Sasuke hadn't moved. She shook her head and tried again, but couldn't bring herself to touch the door, her oath repeating in her head.

Just leave… just leave… that's what she needed to do. So why was she having such a hard time opening the door? Was breaking her word really bothering her conscience that much? But… she was the victim! She was the kidnappee, no the kidnapper! Why did it matter if she kept her word to someone like Sasuke!? No one would hold it against her! So why was she concerned about it?! And why was Naruto's nindo constantly going through her mind, alongside her own oath?!

She sank to her knees, wondering why the hell she couldn't just open the door and leave! It was both heartbreaking and infuriating! Sakura brought open her hand and wiped a tear away. When did that happen? She didn't know. Shaking her head at her own damn conclusion, she looked back at Sasuke, hoping his image would renew her conviction to leave and seek help.

Except that he was wide awake and looking directly at her.

"What do you think you are doing?"

Sakura felt herself freeze on the spot. Her breathing became erratic and painful, her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat and for the life of her she could not speak. Not to yell, explain, or plead. All she could do was look on at him as the fear gripped her harshly. But what scared her most was not what Sasuke could, and probably would do to her, but it was his eyes that got her the most.

The next thing she knew was a lightning blade extended from Sasuke's hand and pierced her right shoulder and slamming her against the wall, she gave a brief scream as she felt her body go numb again. As she collapsed to the floor, she found herself losing consciousness. Must had been a higher dose. She saw Sasuke walking towards her, but it was his eyes that haunted her the most. It was the look of betrayal in those eyes. Betrayal by her and that thought was what scared her the most. And those eyes told her exactly how Sasuke intended to react to that. She was dead. She knew it. There was no way he would forget about this now. She was dead. _At least…_ she thought miserably as the darkness began increasing. _At least now… you know what it felt like… when you betrayed _us.

With that thought, Sakura blanked out, oblivious to whatever Sasuke would do to her now.

**Earth Kingdom. Approximately one hour earlier**

At another part in the Earth Kingdom, a man with one eye covered was heading over to a small dog. That had been following Sakura's scent ever since they received her message about her pursuing Sasuke, Kurenai, Hinata and himself took off in pursuit to find her. Pakkun was traveling with him, while Jin, Eri and Suzaki was with Kurenai. Bull was alone with Hinata, since her Byakugan was a great asset in of itself. Mugen, Kai and Ein stayed at the camp.

Something seemed off though. He had lost Sakura's scent about ten minutes ago. It just seemed to… vanish. He wasn't sure why, but he did not like it.

"Kakashi..." Pakkun said, emerging from the bushes. "I found something..."

"What is it, Pakkun?" Kakashi asked as his pug hopped off his shoulder. The dog made no attempt to answer, merely throwing a paw in a direction. Silently, Kakashi ran in that direction. Sakura was strong, but so was Sasuke. If he were to be honest, he wasn't sure if Sakura could win. He wasn't even sure if Naruto could win on his own. Breathing out in frustration, he banished those thoughts from his mind. Now was not the time to think about it.

A moment later, Pakkun told him to stop here as he jumped off Kakashi's shoulder. It was a clearing with a small river passing through. What was he supposed to see here? There was no one in sight, or smell for that matter. Pakkun lead the Jonin over to the river's end and put something in his mouth. Kakashi knelt down and took it.

It was a Konoha headband.

"It's Sakura's," the dog confirmed before Kakashi could think further. The dog certainly knew when to get strait to the point. Kakashi only half heard him. There was no more scent, no more leads and a dreaded sign of the worst possible scenario. He looked down as he gripped the item hard in his hand. "Pakkun… call the others. We're returning to basecamp."

The dog looked at him in surprise, but slowly nodded in agreement. Once again, he jumped on Kakashi's shoulder, giving out a loud howl as it did. With that, Kakashi immediately turned around and went back to the camp, as fast as he could.

**Avatar Campsite**

Naruto was irritably pacing around the campsite, waiting for some news, any news. Why didn't that damn fox fix him up quickly, like it usually did? If it was going to stay in his body, the least it could do is be cooperative every once and awhile.

He was brought out of his mental rant when he heard a dog howling. Quickly glancing at the three dogs that had been left with them, they all quickly howled in response, with four others heard a second later.

"Well!?" Naruto demanded at the three ninja dogs. "Out with it! What's happened!?"

None of the dogs answered him, opting to vanish in a puff of smoke. Naruto grumbled under his breath. He then stood his ground, tapping his foot impatiently as he wanted for some sort of answer. About ten minutes later, Kakashi finally showed up, looking grim. And alone.

"Sensei..." Naruto asked confused, as Katara, Toph, Suki, and Sokka walked up as well. Kuei was sitting in his rock tent with Bosco, doing who knew what.

"...I found Sakura's headband..."

The man held out his hand and showed the others and Naruto's face feel in horror at the sight. He found himself unable to move, unable to speak, hell, unable to _breath_! No… it couldn't mean… it just couldn't. He continued gawk as Kakashi walked forward and put it in his hand. "I'm sorry." He said. "There's no more trail after we found this. We have to assume the worst."

"She...she would never toss this away," Naruto said, shaking, looking dumbfounded at the headband in his head. He didn't want to believe it.

"She...she lost?" Sokka asked, remembering what she had done in the Earth King's palace. She had just kicked the ground with her foot and that left a crater three metes deep and nine meters wide, for crying out loud! How does someone like that lose!? "Even with… with that insane strength of hers?"

"Sasuke is that strong," Kakashi said as Naruto began shaking. His mind raced, Sakura, while she started off as his crush, she grew into more of his sister. And now...she...may be dead. No bugging and annoying her? No more of her pounding him into the ground with no reason at all? No more of her helping hand and confident nature, inspiring him and making him feel better?

He closed his hand on the headband. "If he did anything..." Naruto growled, faint traces amount of youki appearing. "I'll kill him. I swear I'll kill him myself."

"Naruto..." Kakashi started, putting his hand on his student's shoulder.

"Don't say it," Naruto hissed. "I don't care. If he really did kill her..." he clutched it tighter. "Damn it! I know I should I gone after her! I might had been able to find them!" He fell to his knees, tears started to streak down his face. "Damn it..."

Kakashi shook his head, feeling down himself. Sasuke had already run, and now Sakura was probably dead. And if he wasn't careful, he would lose his last student to revenge as well. Before he could say a word, Kurenai and Hinata appeared, the dogs disappearing as they did.

"We couldn't… Naruto-kun?" Hinata started, but stopped when she saw Naruto huddled down and crying softly.

Katara looked at them, tears in her eyes as well. "They...Kakashi...he," her voice was all broken up, shaking and her body language only seemed to amplify those attributes immensely. "...he found something...Sakura's...headband..."

Hinata's eyes widened, and she looked at Naruto and Kakashi. Toph was shaking.

"Just...her headband?" Kurenai asked softly.

"Yes...and we all know she wouldn't throw it away," Kakashi said, looking down at Naruto, whose trembling in sadness was slowly being replaced with rage and anger. His head shot up, his face pissed off and he looked Kakashi dead in the eyes.

"What are we waiting for?" He demanded.

"Naruto..." Kakashi started, knowing the boy would not like this at all. "We have to think of the bigger picture. Aang's still unconscious..." Naruto gritted his teeth and looked like he was about to attack Kakashi for those words.

"Bigger picture? BIGGER PICTURE!?" He roared. "Sakura may be dead and Sasuke's on the loose still! You expect me to just forget about that!?"

"No, I don't, but Naruto," Kakashi said sharply. "Becoming obsessed with Revenge will make you like Sasuke."

"THEN what should I do!?"

"Calm down," Kakashi replied, and he looked at Hinata. "Sakura wouldn't want you to go off avenging her. You know that."

Naruto began breathing heavily, but did not shout again. Hinata walked over to him, and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Tears were falling freely from her eyes. "I'm sorry," She said. "I'm so sorry..."

He turned around to her, and wrapped his arms around her. The two of them cried for the loss of their friend. "CRAP!!" Toph screamed, stomping her feet and making a crater, while simultaneously wailing her frustration and grief. Sokka was weeping quietly on Suki's shoulder, as she merely patted his back, trying to help him. Katara was openly crying and even Appa and Momo seemed to understand what exactly had happened, as they were moaning as well. Kurenai looked at Kakashi. "And there's no more trail?" Kakashi didn't have to answer, as Kurenai looked at the weeping teenagers. Unsure of what to say or do to comfort them – and herself as well – she looked back "Then what's the plan now?"

"...I...wish I knew..." Kakashi replied.

"Sakura may still be alive, or she may be dead," Pakkun said. "Whatever we do, we need to confirm her status first."

Kakashi nodded. "...I...have to inform the Hokage of this development however..."

There was no response from either animal, or human. So with that, Kakashi collected Sakura's headband from Naruto and formed several seals and muttered. "Sunpou Janpou no Jutsu (Dimension Jumping Jutsu)." Stepped through the portal and was gone.

**Konoha, Hokage Tower**

Tsunade looked up from her war papers. Things weren't going good at all. The majority of fighting was taking place on three separate fronts. The first was at the Bird Country, a non-shinobi country and a financial supporter of the Konoha Alliance, but it was located between the Earth and Wind countries and currently the two sides were fighting within Bird's borders: Iwa, with their Swamp Shinobi allies, was attempting to claim it and use it as a foothold into their territory, while Suna, with the aid of the Hidden Sun village, was attempting to drive them out and use Bird as a haven to launch their own attack. So far, it was just a bloody stalement, neither side gaining or losing ground.

The second front compromised the borders of Grass and Waterfall, where the Fire Nation was supporting Sound's raiding attacks. Those damned Fire Nation tanks were a real nuisance. Shinobi were able to deal with them adequately, but Daimyo's armies were not equipped to do so and both Grass and Waterfall were taking on losses with each raid.

The third front was in the Bear Country, bordering Konoha's northeastern borders and just west of Sound itself. It was heard that the Hidden Star Village was located, also an ally of Konoha. Northeast of Bear itself was the Dry Country, where the Hidden Weed Village was located, an ally of Kumo. Currently, Kumo was using their ally as a steppingstone into Bear. Tsunade had dispatched backup to aid the Star Shinobi, but by the time they had arrived, the entire west side of the Country had been loss to the enemy, which unfortunately included the Capital itself. Fortunately, the Hidden Village itself resided in the eastern portion of the country and had evacuated the Damiyo and his family before the Capital fell. Still, that gave Kumo an unobstructed path to Sound and reinforcing them. The Sound Alliance had even managed to construct a base at the Valley of the End itself and was using that as a jumping point into the Fire Country itself, mostly by Fire Nation forces.

Fire Nation invading the Fire Country. How odd that Fire was viewed so differently in each world. One was viewed with envy, but stood for it's ideals and was considered to have the "best of views," as diplomats put it. And the other was viewed with contempt and stood for conquest and brute force.

Despite the fact that Konoha and her allies had superior numbers on their side, they were having a difficult time organizing and coordinating any sort of strike. So far the Sound Alliance wasn't standing their ground, preferring hit and run tactics to keep the Konoha Alliance off balance and from organizing and coordinating any counterattack, or even perform their own operations. To make matters worse, the Mist had been blockaded by Kumo and Fire Nation forces, preventing them from aiding their allies on the main land. Somehow, Orochimaru had brought entire Fire Navy ships into their world and those ships were doing an effective job keeping the Mist locked in their own country, much to her dismay.

Konoha's standing strength was divided into ten separate fighting units, each under a Jonin she had personally appointed to lead the unit of about two hundred shinobi each. As of right now, Konoha's Second, and Seventh Units were in Grass, while the First and Fifth Units were in Waterfall, leading their strength to those two countries. The Sixth Unit and Ninth Units were in Bear, attempting to help Star reclaim their land. The Third and Eighth Units were currently assigned to Konoha's Eastern and Western borders respectively to defend them, with the Eighth attempting to reclaim the Valley. Konoha's Tenth Unit was in Wave, attempting to break through the blockade to Mist, but weren't making any success. Konoha's Fourth Unit was the only one actually in Konoha itself.

Jiraiya was currently looking into Akatsuki. His spies had informed him that their activity in this world had decreased slightly and she wanted to know why. They were up to something, what she wasn't sure.

She sighed in frustration as she went through the latest papers, all of which were on war business: proposals on where to attack next, recommendations on where to establish a new supply line, intelligence reports – both from their world and the Avatar World (thanks to Yamato) and other such nonsense. If she thought she had a ton of work to do when she first took office, she was learning just how wrong she had been.

That's when she noticed the portal forming and Kakashi stepping through. "Oh, Kakashi," She said, not bothering to look up at him. Too much damn work to do! "Perfect timing, get me out of here before Shizune buries me in more paperwork!"

"...I...have some bad news."

Tsunade stopped and looked at him. "What...kind of bad news?" She asked softly.

"...Haruno Sakura is...MIA...most likely dead..." he took out his students headband, and Tsunade's eyes widened in horror.

"W-what?" Tsunade said, falling into her chair. "W-what...did you...just say?"

"Please don't make me repeat it," Kakashi said sternly, not bothering look at her directly.

"H-how?"

"Approximately ninety minutes ago, Sasuke managed to escape. He had been quiet and unresponsive since his defeat and we felt that he was no immediate danger or in escaping. We had spread out from the camp, neglecting to keep a close eye on Sasuke, assuming that his bonds and blindfold would be enough to keep him secure." He paused and said. "I take full responsibility for our carelessness and..."

"Shut up and continue," The Fifth Hokage ordered. She didn't care about such details on how it happened, she just wanted to know what happened now!

"Yes ma'am. To continue, one of Sakura's slug summons reached us, informing us of Sasuke's escape and she," he sighed as he prepared himself to finish. "she went...off to fight Sasuke herself so she wouldn't lose the trail... Kurenai, Hinata and myself took off after her while the others remained in the camp. We followed the scent until we lost track of it prematurely, finding neither Sasuke, nor Sakura. Both were gone." Kakashi paused once again as he walked over and place Sakura's headband on the Hokage's desk. "But Pakkun found her headband washed up on shore." He striated himself. "That's all we were able to find of them. Any scent that was once on her headband is long gone thanks to the water. We have no way of confirming her status at this time, but given that fact that Sasuke tried to kill Naruto...and that he escaped...if Sakura did catch up to him..." He let it hang.

Tsunade began shaking, and tears began streaming down her face. "...I-I-I'll...inform her parents personally..." she looked at Kakashi. "How is...Naruto taking it?"

Kakashi was silent. Then. "He started...proclaiming revenge... I...reminded him that would make him like Sasuke...and he stopped..." _For now_, he added silently. The man then asked the question occupying their minds. "Hokage-sama...given what you know now of the situation... what are your orders concerning how we should act now, especially given the crisis in the Avatar World with the Earth Kingdom?"

Tsunade wasn't entirely sure. She merely glanced at the papers on her desk again. The fate of two worlds was in the balance, the Earth Kingdom especially. They hadn't had the time to form an official alliance with them and now it was too late, but she couldn't afford to just ignore Sakura's condition, especially with Sasuke involved. "I'll see if I can organize a team to go looking for her," She told Kakashi, as she looked through potential candidates. "We can't just abandon a fellow shinobi. Not without attempting to find her." She looked up at Kakashi. "I'll summon you when I'm selected them."

Kakashi nodded as he left Tsunade's office, while the Sannin was looking over her papers anew. He barely registered Nara Shikamaru – who was standing there with several papers. The young man quickly turned around and took off in another direction, while Kakashi decided to visit his home.

**Two hours later**

"Come in," Tsunade said. She had just finished going through another stack of papers. She was currently trying to decide how many people she should send. Three? Four? Five? More? Jonins, ANBU, Chunin, Genin? The thought of Sakura, missing, injured, even dead was the only real thing on her mind. She wasn't sure as she looked up to see who her visitor was.

Shikamaru.

The lazy young man walked right up to her desk, looking her strait on. That wasn't like him and the last thing she wanted was another headache. "Looks like you've seen better days." The Chunin told him softly.

"With Sakura-chan possibly dead, I'm surprised I haven't hit the bottle yet." She blurted out without thinking. When Shikamaru didn't gasp, react, fall on his butt or any sort of reaction, she knew. "So you've found out." She commented softly. "Kakashi inform you already?"

"I overheard Tsunade-sama, when I was coming to deliver my reports on the latest war situation. After which, I decided I needed a new plan and just spent the last two hours forming it"

"Get on with then," Tsunade said, laying back. Maybe a little war news would cheer her up. How depressing it was to hope that a war would lift her spirits about a possibly dead apprentice.

Shikamaru merely placed a map of the Avatar world on her desk. "I assume you're aware of the...situation in the Earth Kingdom?"

"Yes. Ba Sing Se and Omashu have both fallen, the leadership – both militarily and non – has removed from power, either on the run or imprisoned. It's only a matter of time before the entire country is overrun and taken over by the Fire Nation. Our analysts estimate only three weeks at most before the Earth Kingdom has fallen entirely."

"Right." Shikamaru agreed. "With the Fire Nation allied with Orochimaru, sooner or later, we're going to have to take the fight in the Avatar World. With the Earth Kingdom as it is, the Avatar in critical condition and things getting worse by the day, by the time we're ready to launch an offensive in that land, we'd be at a severe disadvantage."

Tsunade began to get where he was going with this. "...so we need...a stronghold? A base of operations to allow us to operate in their land while we still have the change to establish one?"

"No." He said sharply, surprising her. What was he thinking then? "A stronghold in the middle of enemy territory is no good to us, especially in a world that large. There's a word for that: surrounded. The Fire Nation, no matter where we set up a stronghold, would be able to come at us from all sides. And crush us," Shikamaru straighten up. "What we need: is an ally."

"An ally?" Tsunade repeated. "The only possible ally we could have in the Avatar world is the Water Tribe now. Are you suggesting we send an ambassador there to negotiation an alliance?"

"No. Look, the Water Tribe doesn't have the forces to confront the Fire Nation, but the Earth Kingdom does. But their in no situation in order to give it. Making an alliance with the Water Tribe would certainly help, but it's not a solution."

"So what do you propose?" She asked, a hint of irritation in her voice, wishing he would get to the damn point already.

"We gave the Earth Kingdom a much needed victory. Something to turn the tide and get them back in the fight." He pointed down at one portion of the map. "We're going to retake Ba Sing Se."

_To be continued…_

* * *

A/N: and so there's a little taste concerning the darker elements of this fic, as well some lighter tones with the rest of the Aang Gang. I'll admit that I'm not sure exactly how dark I want this story to be (well… more like how willing I want it to be), but needless to say, I'm considering ALL possibilities. Sakura may very well find herself raped at some point (though I'm not planning on showing such a thing onscreen… unless I wanted to really find out if I can such a bastard writer), and/or other such unpleasant elements, not all of which committed by Sasuke, if at all. Needless to say, if you're going to continue reading this, expect some… "naughty"… things to happen.

The retaking of Ba Sing Se side arc is more of a test on how much I want to alter from Son Kenshin's story. The main focus of this story is still Sasuke and Sakura's journey, but this little plot will gave me a perfect trial run.

Current status of alliances for the Fourth Shinobi War (hope I didn't confuse anyone too much on the details earlier).

Konoha Alliance: Fire Country – Hidden Leaf Village; Water Country – Hidden Mist Village; Wind Country – Hidden Sand Village; River Country – no shinobi village (Sand ally); Grass Country – Hidden Grass Village (Leaf ally); Waterfall Country – Hidden Waterfall Village (Leaf ally); Bird Country – no shinobi village (Sand ally); Bear Country – Hidden Star Village (Leaf ally); Heat Country – Hidden Sun Village (Sand ally) and Wave Country – no shinobi village (Leaf ally). At this time, the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes are not allied with Konoha.

Sound Alliance: Sound Country – Hidden Sound Village; Fire Nation – no shinobi village, Earth Country – Hidden Rock Village, Lightning Country – Hidden Cloud Village, Dry Country – Hidden Weed Village (Cloud ally, Hidan's village), and Marsh Country – Hidden Swamp Village (Rock ally).

Neutral: Rain Country – Hidden Rain Village; Spring Country – Hidden "Snow" Village (Water ally). Various other non shinobi and minor shinobi countries as well.

_I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon Studios respectively. Also Bending the Jutsu belongs to Son Kenshin, who also betaed this as well._


	3. Making One's Move

Chapter 3: Making One's Move

**Konoha**

"By getting together an assault force comprised of Konoha's Second," Shikamaru pointed at Grass on the map. "Fifth." He pointed at Waterfall next, before moving on to Bear. "And Ninth Units, we'll be able to retake Ba Sing Se: the most important stronghold in the entire Earth Kingdom territory."

They were located inside the Hokage Tower in the Council room, which was more commonly called the War Room now a days. No longer did the Council debate and discuss things like trading, prices in Konoha or even things like Chuunin exams. Now it was just battle tactics and plans, with field promotions given based on the Council's call on how they saw their personal tools. The Council consisted of thirteen people: twelve of Konoha's oldest and wisest (supposedly) citizens, both former shinobi and non shinobi alike, with the Hokage as lucky number thirteen. Since the Fire Damiyo had wisely consented to move the Fire Country's military command to Konoha itself and thus, Tsuande herself, which meant that she had supreme authority in all Military matters. Both over the shinobi and the samurai forces.

Right now, Konoha's shinobi forces numbered roughly 2000 total, though that figure did not include the majority of Genin themselves, as Tsunade preferred not to put them on the front lines yet. The situation was not so desperate and they _did _have superior numbers and allies at this time than the Sound did, even with Fire Nation support. Still... the older and more experienced Genin were sent off to battle, but only the few that Tsunade felt could handle it, while the others were being prepped in Konoha by Morino Ibiki: the Fourth Unit's Commander.

As for the Fire Samurai forces, prior to the outbreak of the war, they had numbered roughly 32,000. Once war broke out, the call went out as well and many men from Fire Country's other cities and villages answered the call. Right now, they numbered nearly a hundred thousand. And while that sounded high, Tsunade knew that these numbers were matched by the other four Great Nations. Still... Konoha's alliance featured three of the five, while Orochimaru only had two. The odds and numbers were in Konoha's favor.

Tsunade glanced around at the Council, eying Danzo, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu specifically. Those were the three she trusted least and were most weary of. Danzo was noted as a military hawk, so he was in his element perfectly in this war. The other two, despite being her sensei's old teammates, seemed to agree more often with Danzo than Tsunade.

Currently, all thirteen of them were listening to Shikamaru give them his plan to recapture Ba Sing Se. The boy was standing in front of the room with two maps on the wall. The first was of the elemental countries and the second was of the Avatar world.

"Prior to our attack, we'll have Team Kakashi sneak back to Ba Sing Se and alert the Royal Earthbending Guards. According to our information, they – as well as the Earth Kingdom military as a whole – is loyal to the Earth King, who conveniently is with Team Kakashi at that time. Using the Earth King, he'll quietly rally the Royal Guards on the outer wall, then discreetly inside the city itself." Shikamaru went on. "Our sources tell us that the Royal Guards alone number fifty thousand. More so with the inclusion of normal guards and police in the city itself. The Dai Li only number approximately thousand and the Fire Nation's first occupation troops won't arrive within a week's time.

"Azula hasn't made any official announcement about the change in leadership, nor has Long Feng. They don't need to. The Earth King passed laws and decrees through the use of seals. Sixty seven in all to be exact. All she has to do is seal the documents on what she wants and the population is none the wiser. Even more so when the Dai Li are the ones that carry them out.

"Once Team Kakashi has rallied the guards, I plan to have our shinobi enter Ba Sing Se at various points via the portals. We'll literally have our men appearing out of thin air all over the city. With all that confusion going on, the Royal Guards strike." Shikamaru clapped his hands together, with the slap echoing through the room. "Azula and her pet Dai Li won't know what will hit them."

"Why do you want to pull so many of our forces off the first lines? Intelligence has revealed that the enemy is preparing to move against Waterfall." One councilor spoke up, leaning forward a bit. "Just one of the units would be enough for what you're proposing, three is overkill especially with the numbers you state the Royal Guards have."

Shikamaru held up two fingers. "Two reasons. The first is numbers. The Dai Li are spread out the entire city. The idea is to take them out as fast as possible before they can organize anything and the faster we do that, the easier our job will be. The second is for after the Dai Li are dealt with." He pointed along map, at a line that went from Omashu to Ba Sing Se. "Remember, the Fire Nation is sending troops to reinforce the city and the first wave from Omashu is 60,000. Taking the city will be the easy part. Holding it will be another matter entirely. During that time, I hope we can contact the Earth Kingdom Resistance and combine them with the rest of the Earth Kingdom military into a single cohesive fighting force, rather than fragmented units on their own."

"How long do you want to pull these troops off our front lines?" Koharu said this time. "We can't afford to keep them out of the fighting for an extended period of time."

"Hopefully at week at most. Two days needed for the Second and Fifth Units to arrive. Four for the Ninth. That gives a three day leeway before the Fire Nation troops arrive. I'm aiming for Team Kakashi to have rallied most, if not all of the Royal Guards by the time the Ninth Unit arrives. If not, that gives them two days to do so. Either way, we'll be prepared for the enemy on the seventh. Once the initial attack has been repelled, Ba Sing Se will be able to get back on it's feet and fend for itself again, allowing our troops back on the front. Hopefully Earth Kingdom allies in hand."

"A well conceived plan," It was Danzo speaking of all people. "I approve of this course of action. Moreover, I suggest that we put Shikamaru in charge of the operation, with a promotion to Special Jonin, specialty in tactics."

Shikamaru visibly gagged at that. "Um... that's not really necessary. The Commander of the Second Unit is more than enough to..."

Tsunade offered a smile. Boy was willing to put in the effort to plan such operations, but ask him to lead it and he loses all foundations. And while she did not like Danzo, for once, the man had an idea that she agreed. "I concur." She said loudly enough to gather the Council's attention, while Shikamaru squirmed. Raido was the Commander of the Second Unit and while he probably could pull this off easily enough, Tsunade felt that Shikamaru was the one to take command of this operation. If anything went wrong with his plan, he would be the best would to adapt. The members looked at each other, then all nodded. "It's decided. Nara Shikamaru, you are hereby granted the rank of Special Jonin, specialty in tactics and put in charge of this operation. The end results will determine if it's permanent or something more. You are dismissed to get the operation underway."

Shikamaru just looked at them all in disbelief, before uttering. "How troublesome..." and walked out of the War Room.

**Sound Country**

Sasuke emerged from the portal he had just formed, appearing on the outskirts of Otagakure itself. If any Konoha shinobi or one of their allies tried this, they would be dead before they got ten steps but Sasuke had lived amongst Orochimaru and his bases for a period of nearly three years. He knew how the man worked and how to remain undetected in such areas.

Letting the portal dissolve around him, he quickly made his way to the village itself. It looked like any other normal village in the country and for all appearances it was. There were no shinobi walking around, nor any hit of shinobi present in the area. This was because the true village was all located underground. That's where all the forges, training centers, and individual rooms of high ranking Sound Shinobi stayed. There were only a few points of access one could enter, all protected by a special sound barrier. Unless one knew exactly what to do, the barrier would go off and send violent sound waves all through the body, resulting in the body combusting and exploding.

Hence the name: hiding in sound.

Sasuke walked in the village avoiding the areas he knew were being monitored and how. Once he entered, he made a quick left and went to the nearest tree. He bit his thumb and spread the blood across his palm. After a few quick hand seals, he pressed his hand against the tree. Runes glowed around the area he touched for a split second before fading. Once it did, the entire tree began moving backwards a few meters revealing a diagonal tunnel in the ground. He entered the tunnel, forming a new string of seals. Once he walked a few paces he felt a wave trickle over him like water. The security system. As expected, it accepted him so he kept walking

This area was a series of complex tunnels and mazes with each corridor layered with bobby traps, with the rooms at the end of the tunnel. Provided one could live and not get lost in the process; but Sasuke knew where he was going and he arrived there twenty minutes later.

His old room.

There he began gathering all the various items inside: additional shuriken and kunai, as well as some other clothes and forms of currency (both his world and the Avatar worlds) he had acquired before originally leaving. Once he had gathered the desired items, he headed towards the nearest to the nearest supply room. There he gathered other essentials such as soldier pills and other supplies, including one particular item. Once he felt satisfied with everything, he shouldered his backpack and began to walk out.

Only to see Tobihashi Karin standing in the door way.

Sasuke blinked. That was about as close to flinching in his present mind state. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be Lab 20?"

Lab 20 was one of Orochimaru lab and research facilities, which Karin was in charge of and supposed to be. She looked differently than he last saw her. Her red, spiky hair was the same as last time: one side long and the other short. She wore long sleeve gray overcoat, short black pants and thick sandals. She also wore red framed glasses and had a Sound headband around her neck.

"Kabuto's not here right now. He's off training Princess Azula personally, so in his absence I'm taking over his duties here." She spoke in that sweet voice she liked to use when it was just the two of them. She took off her glasses and looked at him affectionately. "Orochimaru-sama may have been pissed off when you weren't here for him to take your body, but I..." She smiled as she took a few steps forward. "I couldn't be happier. I like you much better as yourself."

Sasuke said nothing at first, his face remaining impassive. He was merely calculating in his mind of what this encounter meant. He didn't see anyone behind her, or detect any chakra presences near them. No one was in the immediate vicinity, but this was the heart of Sound and it's war effort. More shinobi could be here in several seconds. "What happened to Orochimaru then?"

"He took that ingrate Suigetsu for a body," she answered dismissively as she walked up closer to him, smiling widely. "Why don't we go and - "

She never got the next word out as Sasuke moved swiftly behind her and delivered a swift chop to the back of her neck. The girl crumpled to the ground in a heap and did not move again. Once he might had mentioned that she was 'annoying.'

But she was not even worth that.

With that, he quickly made his way out of the room. He couldn't risk forming a portal inside the Sound base. The chakra residue would tell any skilled shinobi that he formed the portal and where it took him. He didn't want that. In the surrounding area, it would be harder to find. He had a few more stops to make.

**Avatar Campsite**

The campsite was strangely quite now. Normally, it was lively and there was talk about. Now it was just as cheerful as a graveyard. How appropriate seeing how one among their number may be dead. Not that anyone wanted to think that, but the possibility was high. The only other one missing was Kakashi, who had still not returned from reporting to Tsunade-sama. Naruto was sitting alone in one corner muttering something under his breath and occasionally slamming his fist into the ground. Sokka was sitting on the ground sharpening his machete with a rock. Katara was inside a tent doing another healing session on Aang's unconscious body.

Suki was sitting on an earth bench, just staring off to space, while Toph laid about on the ground, absentmindedly grabbing a handful of rocks and letting them slip through her hand over and over. Hinata was laying on the ground as well, looking up at the stars. Every once in awhile, she looked over at Naruto but made no move to go over. Kurenai was pacing about the camp seemingly lost in thought, but her eyes were active and she was ready to react to the slightness sign of danger. Kuei and Bosco were off in the forest doing who knew what, but even they were affected by the moody atmosphere of the camp.

That's when the portal opened in the middle of the camp and Kakashi stepped through. All the other heads jerked towards him. "Katara," Sokka said softly, resulting in the girl's head poking out of the tent.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head slightly, one of his nervous signs. "I... we... have orders."

Naruto particularly leapt on the masked man. "Well!? When do we go!? We have to find Sakura-chan before that teme does anything to her!"

"... no... we're not going after her."

"What? You mean oba-chan assuming some punk ANBU squad to do this!? Hell no! Let me go and talk to her! I'll get her to assign us to help Sakura-chan out in five seconds flat!"

Kakashi let out a small breath of air. "Naruto. _No one_ is going after her."

Silence rang in the air next before the eruptions came.

"WHAT!?"

"WHY THE HELL NOT!?"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR DAMN VILLAGE!?"

"HOW CAN WE JUST LEAVE HER TO SASUKE!?"

"Calm down." Kakashi motioned to the group. "And just listen."

_Flashback. Hokage's office. Ten minutes previous._

_Kakashi walked in to the Hokage's office to see Shikamaru already there, with Tsunade looking grave. "Hokage-sama? You sent for me."_

_The Godaime Hokage merely nodded. "Yes. Concerning your groups next mission." She gestured to the young Nara. "Tell him."_

_Shikamaru gave a small grunt but then began to go over the plan to recapture Ba Sing Se and Kakashi's group's role in it. After listening, Kakashi replied. "A sound plan. I suppose them you'll allow Naruto and a few others to chase after Sakura then."_

_Tsunade closed her eyes. "No."_

"_...no?"_

"_No." Shikamaru said, looking sick with himself. "We can't afford anyone to go after her right now. If we're going to have any chance in retaking Ba Sing Se, we need all the manpower as quickly as possible. Especially when recruiting the Royal Guards. There's no telling what will happen during that time and you're going to need everyone you have to keep the Earth King alive. If he dies, so does the chance of rallying any of Ba Sing Se's forces."_

"_Yet we won't be able to spar one or two shinobi to find Sakura?" Kakashi pressed, amazed they were even having this conversation. "She may still be alive."_

"_Against Sasuke, one or two Shinobi isn't going to be enough. Not with him on the run and a possible hostage to boot. Beating him is only one aspect of it. Finding him and securing Sakura is another."_

_Kakashi shot the kid an angry look. "So we just leave her to Sasuke for who knows how long?"_

"_I don't like it anymore than you do, but Sakura was..." Shikamaru caught himself and took a deep breath. Is... a shinobi. She knew the risk. And we have to consider the larger picture. Securing the Earth Kingdom Capital and saving all those lives from being controlled by the Fire Nation, or one shinobi? Which is more important?"_

_Kakashi breathed out hard, but didn't respond immediately. He had always said that abandoning his comrades made one worse than trash and he stood by that statement. Yet he also understood the importance of securing Ba Sing Se for the war effort. "Then let _me _go after her at least. I can both track her down and I can handle Sasuke myself." He wasn't sure if that was entirely true or not, but it hardly mattered._

"_No." Came Tsunade's voice this time. She looked about ready to break, but managed to keep her voice firm. "As much as I hate this... Shikamaru is right. I can't authorize a mission to go looking after one shinobi when we're faced with something this big. I have faith in Sakura. I believe she'll be able to take care of herself long enough to hold out until we get there."_

"_... and if she can't?" Kakashi asked in a resigned voice._

"_Then Sasuke better pray I never get my hands on him."_

_End of flashback_

The entire group just looked at Kakashi like he was crazy. "So we're supposed to go liberate Ba Sing Se because your damned Hokage tells us to!?" Toph yelled.

"That's correct."

"Why though?" Hinata pleaded. "We can't just..."

"Don't make this any harder than it is, Hinata," Kurenai snapped unexpectedly, making Hinata stop in mid sentence. The others looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. "Sensei..." both Hinata and Katara started at the same time.

"Don't start," She ordered. "We all want to help Sakura, but right now we have to secure Ba Sing Se first before the Fire Nation troops arrive."

"Says who?" Toph demanded, stomping her foot and shaking the nearby area as she pointed to Katara, Sokka and Suki. "We're not shinobi! We don't have to follow your rules! _We'll_ go after Sasuke and Sakura! You push-offs just go and liberate the entire Earth Kingdom if that's more important to you than a friend!"

Though she couldn't see, everyone could feel the tension between her and Kakashi as they locked glares with each other. The Jonin broke the silence first. "Forget it. You all wouldn't be able to beat Sasuke. And if you want me to prove it." _Open!_

With that Kakashi unleashed the first of the inner gates. With the boost of speed and power, Kakashi dashed off to Toph before the master earthbender could react, even with that sensory skill of hers. He grabbed the young girl by the throat and slammed her into a tree hard.

"Kakashi!" Naruto and the others – save Kurenai – shouted in pure disbelief.

"Listen all!" Kakashi shouted at the top of his lungs, looking directly at Toph as she squirmed in his grasp. "We don't like this anymore than you do, but that's how the way things are! The sooner we liberate the city, the sooner we can go after her! So stop whining and complaining about it and let's get the job done!"

Silence entered the camp as Toph voiced. "Fine." With that, Kakashi slowly put her down, no one else offering a word of protest.

Kakashi walked over to Kuei while Toph went into the forest and began rampaging. Naruto didn't hear what the two men were saying, but he didn't care to much. He just looked into the sky. "Sakura-chan... just wait a little longer. We'll be there as soon as we can. You have to be alive... you have to."

**Ba Sing Se, Royal Palace**

A portal formed in an empty room and Sasuke emerged from his exit point in the Sound Country. Only this time, he was breathing rather rapidly. Forming a doorway and traveling from one world to another wasn't exactly easy to do after all. It was taxing on the body and chakra reserves and most shinobi could only form a single portal before succumbing to exhaustion. Sasuke, however, was not a normal ninja but that didn't mean he didn't have his limits. He would need amble rest before he could think of forming another one.

Silent as a wraith, he walked down the hallways, avoiding the Dai Li as the patrolled. He saw no sign of other shinobi, save a handful. One of which was the reason he had come here tonight.

Sasuke walked into the room down the hall where Kabuto was working on whatever project it was this time.

The medic nin pushed up his glasses. "So you've returned to us Sasuke-kun. How do you do?"

There was no surprise in his voice, merely certainly, not that Sasuke cared. He just needed this job done. "I have something I need you do to."

Deliberately turning around slowly the grayed haired man offered up a smirk. "Really now? Surprise, surprise, the all great and mighty Uchiha Sasuke needs something."

"I neither have the time, the patience or the indulgence to hear your usual chatter," Sasuke interrupted as he informed Kabuto of what he required. Once he finished, Kabuto actually raised an eyebrow. "Now why in earth would you want something like _that?_"

Sasuke didn't answer. His reasons were none of the man's concerns. He just crossed his arms and waited.

Seeing the boy's stance, Kabuto spoke up. "I certainly could do what you ask. But I won't. You've made Orochimaru-sama quite... displeased... about your sudden disappearance. I think I'll just raise the alarm and secure your capture before you decide to take off aga..."

Kabuto trailed off when Sasuke pulled out something and showed it to him. It was the poison he had used on Sakura. Kabuto's clam demeanor instantly shifted to cold rage. "I knew it..."

"The only surviving sample," Sasuke said to him, making sure Kabuto saw it. "All the notes burned... all the samples destroyed... all that four years worth of research gone in seconds. I also have a few of those notes in my procession. I'll willingly return these to you in exchange for keep your mouth shut and giving me what I require."

Kabuto stared silently at the Uchiha, then snorted loudly. "Fine. You have yourself a deal."

"How long will it take you?"

"To do what you're asking? Four hours."

**Royal Palace, Throne Room**

Yamato in his Dai Li uniform was one of the ones on duty while Azula sat on the throne that the Earth King formerly occupied. She was going over the Council of Five's papers and reports. Intelligence reports, troop movements, battle plans, supply runs to their remaining bases. Since the Council was the Earth Kingdom's top military command for the entire Earth Kingdom military, the information was all that more damning. The Fire Nation would be able to completely crush them in a matter of weeks, if not sooner. At least How was still not captured, so Yamato could only hope he had found safety somewhere. It was too much to hope that he would be able to reorganize the Earth Army before disaster struck.

The other four generals and Iroh were still in prison. The other four continously yelled at the Dai Li for being traitors without honor, while Iroh just sat in his ceil silently.

Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee had left the city the previous day to go to a resort that was located northwards, as a way to celebrate Zuko and Mai officially getting together. At least that's why they went, Ty Lee tagged along to go meet some cute boys there.

Yamato was not taking kindly to this role as a spy. He had anticipated the loneliness, the constant heavy air that seemed everyone was looking at him. All of that he expected.

It was Azula that he didn't anticipate. At least, not correctly.

He had expected to be gleeful, laughing and collective in her actions. She was just the opposite, at least when he was present. She was calm, calculating and known to smile occasionally for who knew what. What was most frightening was how she handled the Dai Li. Several of them had described her as both intimidating and inspiring. Something that Yamato had took with much skepticism, but after a few days with Azula, he saw the truth in it. In a few of his weaker moments, even he felt obligated to comply with her orders and serve her faithfully. It was very unsettling and not something he had expected at all.

What was worse in his opinion was how the other Dai Li were affected. He would even call it close to worship. The one Dai Li agent that had talked to Aang and the others had been brutally disposed of when Azula found out. And instead of recoiling in fear, they merely approved of the act. Yamato was certainly they would follow any order she would give now. Any.

It was strange but it was during these times Yamato found himself thinking of his past. Born Nogihen Tenzou, he had been small for his age and eager to put everything he could get his hands on his mouth. He smiled at himself at the memory. Kids would be kids after all and there were worse habits that one could had. And he only choked once during these... ventures. Okay... twice if you count the squirrel, but he never did. There were extenuating circumstances. He hadn't been the most physically fit or able of kids, but his mind was sharp and he was eager to learn.

Then... just a few days after his fifth birthday, his life changed forever. He woke up that morning in strapped to a table in some dark room, with the moans of whining of other children his age. He had no idea how he got there, or even why he was there. All that he remembered next was pain, screaming and other kids dying.

That went on for what seemed like an eternity. He had been told it was only four days, but it felt _much_ longer than that. The next clear memory he had was an ANBU figure in a tiger mask over him releasing him from the table. That moment was forever frozen in his memory. The look of that man, Keikan, had made his small mind livid with awe and strength and he knew that he wanted to be a member of that organization. Though he didn't know exactly what being an ANBU meant at the time, but that didn't matter. He new had a dream to go towards.

And a week went and he discovered the results of what happened during the experimentation on him: Mokuton ninjutsu. That lead him being dragged to ANBU Headquarters and _questioned_ under the Hokage himself as they discovered the full extent of what had happened to him: that the First Hokage's – Senju Hashirama DNA had been forcefully insisted into him. And that allowed him to gain the First's abilities. Not to the degree the First himself could do them, but it was still quite a wonder to be hold. After determining that there were no ill side effects, he was allowed to go and attend the Ninja Academy.

Over the next three years, he went on to attend the Academy, become a Genin and make Chunin on his first try. He also spent a lot of time with his idol, Keikan. That man was strick and had no sense of humor what so ever, but he possessed an inner strength that made up for his lack of people skills. Unfortunately, he was killed on a mission shortly after those three years and Yamato had locked himself in his room for the next week, thinking that his dream and ambitions were over.

Once that was over, he went back to his duties, though his drive was less, he was determined to keep his goal of making ANBU. It was during this time, he meet the famous Copy Nin Hatake Kakashi and rediscovered that same inner drive that he had while Keikan was alive. He entered the ANBU on his first attempt at 14 and was assigned to Kakashi's unit, much to his pleasure.

Throughout his shinobi career others had always viewed him as 'the clone of the First' rather than Tenzo. While it gave him a sense of pride to be referred to as such, it also made him uncomfortable. If he was just a clone – and a rather poor one at that – of the First, then what did that make Nogiehn Tenzo? Was he fated to live forever as the First's shadow, or was he still himself? He achieved his dream of becoming ANBU, but now what would happen? Did these actions define himself or a shadow? What was he?

**Several hours later**

Sasuke walked back into the room where Kabuto was. He had spent the lost few hours alone in a room, attempting to recover some his strength and stamina. Not an easy thing to do with all the people in the palace and several times he almost was sighted. He managed to recover somewhat, but not nearly as much as he liked.

Before he could utter a word, the Sound Jonin just pushed up his glasses up his face. "I'm done."

Sasuke merely nodded as Kabuto turned around and tossed him the scroll containing what he asked for. Kabuto held out his hand expectantly. Sasuke stared for a moment before reaching into his pack and taking out the small bottle and notes. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed them.

Kabuto caught them easily enough. He opened the bottle and looked inside. Seeing that they were the genuine pills, he nodded back. "So our agreement it met."

Sasuke just turned around and started to leave. "So it is."

"And in that case, I no longer feel bad about doing this." There was a snapping of his fingers next and Sasuke felt several chakra signatures all around him. He jumped back to narrowly avoid several rock gloves coming strait at him. Looking around, he saw about a dozen Dai Li agents surrounding him, as well as four Sound Shinobi.

Way too many... even if he was at full strength.

"I knew you would come back." If he was still in his proper mindset, he would had flinched at the sound of this new voice. For his current mindset, merely looking over his shoulder was enough.

Azula. Princess of the Fire Nation.

His potential wife-to-be thanks to Orochimaru's alliance with the Fire Nation

Azula smiled sinisterly as she walked forward towards him. "Where have you been, Sasuke? We've all missed you so much. Especially me."

Sasuke didn't respond. His eyes just dratted back and forth between the individuals. Two of the Dai Li slammed their fists together, making the entrance out shut with giant slaps of stone, locking them all in.

He then glanced at Kabuto, who seemed to know exactly what Sasuke was staring for. "Just so you know... I didn't sound the alarm."

"Then who did?"

"I did actually," Azula commented lightly, making Sasuke look back at her. "You were too sloppy. Did you really think you went undetected here? That we were all so blind that no one noticed you? For shame, Sasuke, for shame."

Sasuke just let out a small burst of breath from his nostrils. Looking around again, he asked. "Where is the snake?"

"He's not due to arrive for another week." Kabuto answered. "He's still adjusting to his new host body and won't be fit to travel until then."

"Then I have nothing to worry about."

The Dai Li and Sound Shinobi all tensed up, while Azula merely laughed. "Nothing to worry about? I quite agree. Come back home with me Sasuke. We can have Father tend to Orochimaru when you marry me. Once you do that, he won't be able to touch you."

Sasuke almost felt the urge to smile. "You don't know Orochimaru. He doesn't believe in anyone but himself. Alliances are nothing more than a convenience to him. He'll backstab you in a heartbeat to seize more power. Diplomatic immunity, protection of the state, all that is meaningless to him. The second you let your guard down, you'll be dead."

"Nonsense," Kabuto started, but Azula kept on smiling. "Let him try if he dares. Father will strike him down to the pits of hell if Orochimaru tries anything like that."

Both Sasuke and Kabuto looked at Azula in amazement. She was that confident that her father could take down Orochimaru? Just how powerful was the Fire Lord? Sure he had to be extremely skilled, but was he really equal to the Sannin, or even stronger?

"Now if that's done," Azula continued walking directly up to Sasuke. She placed a hand of his cheek fondly. "Let's go. We can perform the marriage right here if you want. It'll be simple to arrange."

"I have other plans." Sasuke replied.

Kabuto spoke next. "Enough with the bravado, Sasuke. If it was just the Dai Li and Shinobi, you'd probably get out of here. But with me and Azula? You have no chance. There's eighteen of us and only one of you."

Sasuke was silent for a moment as they all watched him. Finally he spoke. "There's not enough of you for the job."

With that he Firebended around him, small intense bursts to blind them temporarily. Azula was hit the worst. She clamped her eyes shut as she gave a scream. The shinobi and Earthbenders all flinched as they covered their eyes. Sasuke then launched himself backwards, elbowing Kabuto in the gut. The medic nin toppled backwards, as the blow was not powerful enough to do more. Not for someone of his caliber. Sasuke neither waited nor looked to see the results of his strike. He merely jumped over Azula and firebended a large blast at the earth barricades.

They blew apart with such force that debris showered everywhere. Once Sasuke's feet landed on the ground, he dashed off as fast as he could.

"After him you fools!" Kabuto yelled as the Dai Li and shinobi began to recover. They immediately took off as Kabuto touched his own pockets... and his face fell when he realized something was missing. Sasuke stole the poison and notes when he elbowed him. In a fit of rage, Kabuto gave a fierce yell and joined the others in pursuit, leaving Azula alone in the room.

Sasuke just ran through the halls, looking for a safe place to form the portal, hoping he would have the reserves to do so.

A Dai Li agent appeared in front of him and shot his rock gloves towards him. Sasuke grabbed both of them and threw them against the walls. He leapt up and shifted upside-down, his hands grabbing the man's shoulders. He continued to twisting until he came to his feet again, hurling the Dai Li agent over his shoulders and brutally into the nearest wall.

Two more sets of rock fits came coming at him. He barely dodged them as the agent came sliding near him. At the last second, Sasuke pivoted around the man and placed his hand firmly on the back of the man's head. With one firm shove, he slammed the Dai Li into the wall.

The man crumbled to the ground as Sasuke took off running again. Reaching into his pockets, he took out a soldier pill and tossed it into his mouth. Feeling a bit of renewed strength and stamina. Three Dai Li appeared in front of him, each one bending a rock to their faces then launching it.

Sasuke withdrew his chokuto and channeled lightning chakra through it, slicing through the rocks like they were wet paper. He charged the sword then hurled it at the center agent, striking him in the shoulder. His chidori current burst through hitting all three of them, making all three fall to the floor with a thump. He rushed over and retrieved his weapon as he heard and felt more presences coming. Deciding to pull a desperate maneuver, he created a Hebi Bunshin. He sent it towards the nearest group as he formed a portal for himself. Hopefully, the bunshin would stall and confuse his pursuers long enough.

With that thought, he quickly formed the next portal to his last destination before returning.

**Approximately five hours later, dawn**

Sakura's eyes snapped open. It took several seconds for her vision to clear up and take in her surroundings. She was in the bed of the room. Slowly moving about, she felt quite numb and sore but was still able to move.

A flow of questions entered her mind. What happened last night? How long had she been unconscious? Had Sasuke done anything... permanent to her?

Gulping very loudly she threw off the covers as she did a self diagnose. She was still clothed and she certainly didn't feel any different. Sitting up, she looked around. She didn't have any restraints on her, or any other indication that she had been... anything but placed in the bed.

_Why didn't he kill me?_ She wondered to herself. She had betrayed his trust and nearly broken her word. She had felt certain that Sasuke would take some drastic actions towards her because of that, but as far as she could tell, he had done nothing. Why?

Before her thoughts could go farther, the door opened and he walked in.

* * *

A/N: and so the third chapter comes to an end. If I haven't scared off all my potential readers for this (something I fear I did in the last chapter), I apologize for the lateness of this chapter but do remember that this story is on the last of my priority list to update. I have no intention of abandoning it in the future, but updates aren't going to be that consistent. If I finish one of my other stories, this may change.\

On a side note, have any of you seen the new Naruto databook that was released in Japan recently? The thing has a ton of information (some of which I think should had been released in the manga directly, but oh well). One of the things it mentions is Hidan's village: Yugakure no sato – Hidden Hot Springs Village. So my Weed village was wrong. Oops. Oh well... would had been cool if I guessed right, so for Hidan, I'll stick to canon and put him in Hotsprings. May use Weed later. We'll see what happens.

Any of those still reading this, please drop a review down. I would like to know if people are still reading this story given it's nature. Given the drop from chapter 1 to 2, I'm wondering if anyone is still reading this or not. Please and thank you.

Nogiehn - kanji "two-branch tree" radical at left (radical 115)

Keikan - (n) mountain stream; valley

**Hebi Bushin** (Snake Bushin): A jutsu Sasuke had created with his time with Orochimaru. It basically summons thousands of small, green snakes, who all perform a henge to look like the user. When attacked, the henge wears off, and the bushin becomes a mass of snakes, which either attack, or return to the Spirit World where they were summoned from. C-Rank Ninjutsu (Created by Son Kenshin)

_I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon Studios respectively. Also Bending the Jutsu belongs to Son Kenshin, who also betaed this as well._


	4. Plans with Complications

Chapter 4: Plans with Complications

Sasuke walked into the room, stone-faced as ever, though he had a backpack on now. _Where did he go?_ she asked herself. What's he plan to do with me now? Sasuke looked at her and then said "Get up. We're leaving."

Sakura didn't respond immediately. "Why did you leave me alive?" Just what did he want from her? She was almost afraid of the answer.

Sasuke merely gestured to her, no warmth in those black eyes of his. "No questions. We're going now."

Sakura slowly stood up, then followed the young man out of the room. Questions continued to buzz in her mind as they walked out. The lobby area from last night was vacant now, and even the owner was nowhere in sight. Carefully, she looked at Sasuke as they walked. He was breathing more sharply than usual, there was a slight stagger in his walk and he was slouching. Classic signs of exhaustion. Whatever he had been doing last night, it had been trying to him.

A small part of her mind yelled at her to attack now. Chakra or not, she still had her taijutsu skills. She was well rested and he was not. His back was to her and she doubted he expected an attack right now. She should be able to take him in this condition. Even as that plan ran through her mind, her right hand automatically came up and touched her left shoulder. The same area where Sasuke's lightning strike had pierced her last night and rendered her unconscious. The more she thought about striking, the more her stomach turned a bit. If she failed, she was sure Sasuke would do something this time around and not just ignore. Though it was the thought of breaking her word further that made her more nauseous than what Sasuke would do. Giving her shoulder one more rub, she put her hand down and gave a mental sigh. Either she was too scared, or not willing to go against her oath further. She just closed her eyes, tearing to hold back the urge to cry. She wasn't going to give in, or be broken. Not like this.

The two of them walked out of the hotel and saw that it was early in the morning, the sun barely up. The village was quiet, not a single soul up and about. Given last night's... activities... perhaps most of the residents were night owls and not morning birds. As they passed through the entrance to the village, Sakura dared another question. "Where did you go last night?"

Not surprisingly, he didn't answer; he merely kept walking. They headed back into the forest and Sasuke stopped once they entered a little ways.

"...where are we going?"

Again, Sasuke didn't answer again. He merely turned around and withdrew a scroll from his back pouch. He held it directly in her face, like she didn't know what it was. "Nice scroll," she commented dryly.

Sasuke took a step back as he flung open the scroll. His thumb came to his mouth and with a quick bite, spread his blood on the scroll. Sakura watched in silence as the item in question emerged in a puff of smoke, but once it cleared Sakura felt her heart drop.

He had summoned a set of chains. _So... it comes to this after all..._ she thought, depressed. She could still remember the look in Sasuke's eyes from last night. Those eyes told her that he had honestly trusted her to kept her word...and how angry he had been when she broke it. Sasuke then gestured with his finger for her to turn around. Silently, she complied as she felt her wrists clamped together, then her ankles shackled, then finally a 'collar' clamped around her neck, with the chain going from it directly to Sasuke's left hand.

"Until you prove you are trustworthy, you will be dragged along like a dog."

"Unlike _some_ people, Sasuke, I learn from the past," she countered softly. "I don't make the same mistakes twice."

Sakura didn't expect any sort of reaction from him, and physically, there was none. But the temperature still seemed to drop several degrees around the two of them. Sasuke looked at her, then held up his right hand in the half tora sign and immediately Sakura felt an intense electrical surge slam into her body as she cried out in pain, falling to her knees. She breathed heavily as the pain diminished. "Let that serve as a reminder to you," Sasuke stated.

Painful tears stained her face as she climbed to her feet. With a jerk of the chain, the two began walking through the forest.

**The next day**

The Avatar group arrived at the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se only an hour ago. Using earthbending to scale the wall again, the group emerged on top, startling the Royal Earthbender Guards on duty. Adding to their surprise, they even saw the Earth King himself appear with them.

It didn't take long for the Guards to round up the officers on watch to a quick meeting which Kakashi, Kurenai, and Kuei were involved with. The two Konoha Jonin took turns telling what had happened earlier in the Earth Kingdom Capital, while Kuei just sat there silently. The rest of the group was eating at another area.

"How could had all of this have happened?" one officer, a Captain, asked in disbelief. It wasn't every day you heard the place you were guarding had already fallen to an enemy coup behind your backs.

"Through the Dai Li," Kakashi responded. "Princess Azula has them under her thumb. How she did that, we can only guess, but it's true." Kurenai took the opportunity to speak. "How it happened matters little right now. Fact is, they've taken the city, and with the Fire Nation troops on the way, it won't be hard for the Dai Li to rip a hole in the walls for them to enter. Once that happens, you won't have a chance."

The officers all looked at each other. "If you're telling the truth," another spoke up, looking around the group with uncertainty. "Though... a number of Dai Li _have_ been spotted at the walls."

Kakashi instantly went on guard. "How many? Where?" Would they tear open a section of the wall already? Or were they just looking for the ideal spot? Either way, Kakashi was worried. The situation was on a knife's edge right now and they couldn't afford to fail.

"About a dozen down at another station south of here. They called it a routine inspection," one officer stated, an obvious appearance of disgust in his voice. "Like they know our jobs better than we do," he snorted. "It's not like they're out here manning the wall's defenses and pulling their weight. Pricks."

Now Kakashi was worried. Whatever the Dai Li were doing, he didn't like. He gave a quick glance at Kurenai, who merely nodded and walked out. Turning back to the officers, he learned that of the fifty thousand of them, eighty percent of them – or 40,000 – of them were defending the wall and spread out among it. It would take a few days to round them all up into a single military unit. Assuming Kakashi could convince these men that what he was saying was true and act. He did this for an hour with moderate success before Kuei stood up himself and addressed the soldiers.

"Has there been any luck in finding Bosco a mate?" he asked eagerly, looking at each of the men hopefully

The atmosphere changed from frustration and tension to dumbfound and annoyance. Kakashi was about to interrupt, but Kuei pressed on. "That's what I do: I like being with my pet. I may not have been the best leader around, but I doubt I was the worst." He paused in consideration as he looked up. "Or does it count when your right hand man and guardian is stringing you around like a puppet?" He shrugged as if that was no big deal and continued. "I'm not a warrior. I don't have the conditioning, training, or drive to go into battle and lead. Some might say it's my duty now for me to pick up the mantle and become a Warrior King and lead my people to freedom. I'm not one of them. Not just because I'm lazy, undriven, and easily attracted to pretty things, but because I can't do the job even if I wanted to." He gestured all around. "You all, on the other hand, can. You're trained for it. You're prepared. Many – if not all of you – were involved in the six-hundred day siege by the Dragon of the West a few years ago. You each chose to bear the mantle of soldier to fight for your family, city and country.

"You are the ones I would trust to lead and bring this country to it's future, but that's not going to happen if you aren't willing to go and fight now. Me being here is proof enough of what Kakashi and Kurenai have been saying: the city is in the hands of the Fire Nation through the actions of the Dai Li, and unless we act now, it's going to stay that way. If we win this fight, I know things will be different in the city, if you'll let me have the chance to do so." He looked up over their heads at this point. "Who can say if those changes will be good or ill? But I do know that if we do nothing, we will have already lost. So, gentlemen, what will you do? Will you act and defend the city now, or will you choose to believe that it's all lies and merely wait for whatever fate will deliver? The Earth Kingdom is in your hands." With that, he sat back down and began making doodles in the dirt.

Kakashi was a little taken back by what the Earth King had just said, while the officers were in a hushed discussion. You didn't often hear a leader public state his ill characteristics and act like it was nothing. Kuei certainly hadn't acted any differently in the short time he had been with the group. Had he always been like this, or had he been affected after all? A bit curious, Kakashi walked over to the man. "You always been that insightful, or is this a one time thing?"

Kuei offered a small smile. "I guess you can blame my upbringing. I'm not used to voicing my opinions; just approving this decree and that decree. I don't really see much difference between being upbringing and self-degrading. To me, you simply say what's on your mind." That smile wavered slightly, as he looked down. "Guess I was a poor king after all."

"I'm not one to ask, or judge," Kakashi offered kindly, making Kuei look at him questioningly. "I have plenty of failings myself and my teaching career is under criticism by some and outright hostility by others. And there's probably a bit of validity to their points. You can dwell of them, or move on. Which will you do?"

Kuei thought about it. "I'll tell you if you tell me what you do."

The silver-haired Jonin made a move to respond when he stopped himself. He was about to say 'I move on', but was that really true? He still spent a considerable amount of time at the memorial stone, and remembering that fateful mission in the Grass country. At the man's continued silence, Kuei just gave a knowing smile and nodded.

"What was that about Long Feng being your guardian?" Kakashi asked, deciding to change the subject. He'd sort out inner demons later. "Didn't your father raise you?"

The King didn't answer immediately, though his shoulders slumped slightly and he looked down. "My father died when I was four," he finally said as he took a breath. "I obviously couldn't rule myself, so the duty mostly fell to the way of my Grand Secretariat."

_Long Feng._ Kakashi thought silently, now seeing how the man had been able to come to power. He would do all the work, while conditioning Kuei on how to run the Kingdom, except that Long Feng would tell the young King his way of ruling, rather than the true way. And while Long Feng would then claim that it would be unnecessary to burden the young King about the war and keep it secret from him. After so long of Long Feng calling the shots, no would could say otherwise and by keeping the war secret, Long Feng would hang onto his power. It was a textbook method, but efficient. Knowing this, it was no surprise that Kuei had been so trusting of Long Feng and somewhat of a minor miracle they had managed to convince him of the truth at all.

Kakashi moved to speak again, when the officers ended their talk and faced the two.

"We fight," the Captain spoke. They were convinced and ready to act.

**An hour later**

Messengers and runners were sent to alert the Guards around all the Outer Wall. A small force of a little over a thousand would be left to man the walls, just in case, but everyone else would be sent to the city. Kakashi planned to send a few messengers to the city next and quietly organize the other Guards there. That's when he noticed Kurenai coming towards him out of the corner of his eye. "Find them?"

His fellow Jonin shook her head. "No. They were already gone by the time we got there. I have Naruto and them searching, so we may or may not find them." She hesitated for a moment before adding. "But that's not what's worrying me."

"It's why they were here in the first place," Kakashi offered, and Kurenai nodded. "I just can't see them making a move like this so early when the Fire Nation troops are still five days away. Any Royal Guards that noticed would catch on and seal the hole."

"Unless..." The sharingan wielder began, with Kurenai catching on. "Do you think?"

Kakashi pulled out a kunai and cut his thumb a little. "Take Hinata, Toph... Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He thrust his hand onto the ground and Pakkun appeared. "And Pakkun, and see if you can confirm our little theory."

Kurenai gave another nod as she gestured to Pakkun to follow. The dog complied, though not fully understanding why yet. Kakashi watched them go. He chose Hinata for her Byakugan and Toph for her earth sensory abilities and Pakkun to track in case they found anything suspicious.

With that thought, Kakashi turned back to continue organizing the Earth Kingdom troops.

**The next day, dusk**

For the past two days, all the two had done was walk. Sasuke seemed to be taking it slow for some reason. He was constantly staring into space and looking at the surroundings. Nearly every time they came across some sort of activity, they would stop and Sasuke would watch what was happening intently. Sakura found no reason or explanation for why he was doing this, or what his intentions were. Twice a day - in the morning and at night - he took off her wrist chains and allowed her to do her private business (thankfully, Sasuke did not watch, but he did hold the chain hard).

Sakura's feet hurt from walking two days straight in a deep forest. She wasn't used to walking in this sort of terrain, in comparison to a place like Ba Sing Se, or a campsite where they had stayed. The soles of her feet were bloody and blistered, and though in pain she might be, she wasn't going to allow Sasuke-jerk to see her wincing

They came to an abrupt stop as Sasuke merely said "We'll camp here."

"Yes, _master_," Sakura replied with heavy sarcasm in her voice as Sasuke let go of the chain. Walking off, she leaned against a tree and slid down to the ground, resting.

"Lift your foot." She jerked her head up to see Sasuke standing over her.

"Why?" She asked in a flat voice.

"Do it."

Snorting, she complied. Sasuke knelt down and took it in his hand. He then reached behind him and pulled out what Sakura recognized as an ointment. He squirted some out to her bloody sole and began rubbing it. It stung slightly, but it eased the pain considerably. He then motioned to her other foot and against her will, she found herself blushing at his touch. She wanted to kick herself. Why was she still in love with the freakin' creep that kidnapped her!?

Composing herself, she looked down. "Sasuke... I'm sorry."

Sasuke merely looked at her.. "You broke you word," he said yet again. That was the most he ever said to her these days. Did he really have to remind her of that again and again?

"I'm sorry, I... got scared. I just wanted to tell the others that I was alright."

Sasuke made no comment to that; he merely walked into the center of their camp and started a fire. Sakura felt her head drop again. "What... what can I do to make it up to you? Show you I'm sincere?" She didn't expect an answer, but to her surprise, Sasuke answered. "Surrender yourself to me. Completely."

"...in what way, surrender?" Sakura asked with worry in her voice.

"Completely."

Sakura gulped loudly. She knew that he literally meant it and that this time, he was definitely including allowing him to... have his way with her. Whether he would actually do it to her or not, she didn't know, but she did know that that thought was included. Sakura felt her mind wander. About a minute later, she answered. "No."

"Then you will not get off these chains."

"Look, Sasuke," Sakura spoke up, anger filling her. "I admit I was wrong, okay?! I never should have given my word if I was going to break it, especially my word on that nature. But if you think I'm so desperate to get the forgiveness of the man who kidnaps me, hurts me mentally and physically, and treats me like an animal, then you're dead wrong! No woman, and I mean _no woman_, deserves to be treated as a man's plaything. Under any circumstances! And I'm not about to do it, just so you do whatever you want for me as 'forgiveness.' That's not forgiveness anyway! And I tell you now: if it's a choice between that and these chains, I'll chain myself everyday of my own free will!" She practically shouted that last part to him. Sasuke had just watched in silence. Then he slowly got up and walked towards her.

She closed her eyes, preparing herself for him to hit her... until she heard a click. The chains dropped.

He then pointed in a certain direction. "There is a small lake over there. You have thirty minutes. Do not make me come after you." He then turned around and walked back to the campfire.

Sakura blinked at him. "Do not make me tell you again," he merely said.

"Um... right." She said, slowly getting up. What was this, some kind of trick? She took a careful step, noticed he wasn't stopping her, and quickly walked away in that direction.

She made it to the lake, and as she continued to look over her shoulder, she stripped down to just her underwear. She wasn't going to take a chance that Sasuke would walk over to see her naked; hell, a traveler could see her nude. No, she was just going to act like her underwear were a bathing suit, and entered the lake.

She spent about twenty minutes bathing, then spent five sun drying herself off. She wanted to wash her clothes, but didn't have the time to. She then walked back to camp with two hograbbits cooking and two minutes to spare and Sasuke waiting, those chains in his hands again. _I knew it was too good to be true,_ she thought miserably as Sasuke walked over to her. "Of your own free will," he repeated to her.

"Not funny." _Oh great... he's becoming witty... could this get any worse?_ "...I'll never run again... Sasuke... but..." Sakura started. "At least let me leave something. Something that proves that I am okay."

"You don't need to worry about such things," he answered, thrusting the chains in her hands. She looked at them, then at him again and saw he was serious. "Men..." she hissed as she put on the shackles and collar. "There, happy now!?" she asked as she turned around. "I can't do my hands," she said, keeping her back to him. She then felt her wrists chained again as she sighed and walked over to her previous spot. Right back where we started.

Leaning back, Sakura sighed. "I never thought you were the type."

Sasuke just looked at her not saying a thing.

"Putting me in chains, telling me to surrender to you, in all ways... never thought you were into that stuff..." Sakura said, leaning back.

"Think what you want," he replied. He then finished cooking (who knew he could cook!?) and fed her like he usually did: hand feeding her like she was an infant. After 'dinner', he went back and sat next to a tree. For about twenty minutes, they simply sat in silence, until Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She needed some sort of conversation. "What happened to you?" she asked. "Why are you acting this way?" She shook her head. Who was kidding? He wasn't about to…

"They wouldn't shut up," Sasuke answered.

Half shocked and half curious, Sakura stared at him. "Who wouldn't shut up?"

"A white snake and a black hawk. Kept arguing in my mind over and over. They wouldn't shut up."

"Wait a second... a white snake and black hawk? Am I missing something?" Sakura asked him.

He looked at her, his face remaining just as impassive as it had been the entire time. There was no confusion or aggravation in his voice. Merely fact. "I could hear… I could envision a white snake and black hawk telling me what to do. The snake saying to go back to Orochimaru and kill you, the hawk saying to go back to Konoha and spare you. They kept arguing louder and louder. They wouldn't shut up."

"And you... couldn't choose?"

"They wouldn't stop arguing. It drove me mad. I pushed both of them away. Farther and farther until I couldn't see them anymore. Or hear them. It was quiet."

Sakura sighed, looking down. "And that's the reason why you're nearly a robot in personality now?"

He just looked at her as her own mind thought about it. Was it possible that Sasuke had developed Multiple Personality Syndrome while with Orochimaru? She shrugged. It was possible, she supposed. He had to be able to live with himself despite all of what Orochimaru was doing. And if this Hawk and Snake representatively and he just sent them away...her eyes widened in realization.

"What?" Sasuke asked, noticing her eyes widening.

If... if this Hawk and Snake represented Right and Wrong... then... when he banished them... did that take right and wrong with them? Did he just cut himself off from all POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE emotion!? Could MPS really be that extreme!? She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. If... if he cut himself off from feeling right and wrong... then what was left?

"Sasuke... what... is actually left of you now?"

He just blinked at her, as if not knowing how to respond. Frustrated, she started thinking again. Psychology was not something she was good at. Ok... if he didn't feel positive or negative emotions, then that left... she strained her mind, trying to remember everything she could. Logically... she stopped at that thought as she looked at Sasuke again. Was that what was left? She shook her head, trying to get an answer, when she considered something. If... if he didn't feel right or wrong anymore, then did he even know the difference anymore?

She decided to test it out. "...Sasuke... is it wrong to torture a innocent person?"

"If I need to get information, then I will do so using any method necessary," he answered, still using the same flat voice and stone-faced expression.

"That isn't the point, Sasuke," Sakura told him with a sigh. Another ethical question, a rewording of the first. "Is it wrong to torture an innocent person just out of spite or fun?"

He blinked at her again, then shrugged.

"Is it right to help out a village full of civilians against an army? Even if they can offer you nothing?"

He just looked at her again, not saying anything.

"Do you know?"

"...is it?"

"Is what?"

"Is it right?" he said.

"Yes, it is right to help civilians who can't fight back. We did it before, don't you remember?"

"The wave country," he said. "I remember."

Sakura nodded. It looked like she was getting somewhere. "...Sasuke... is it right to chain me up? Or make me surrender to you?"

"I deemed it necessary."

"_NECESSARY!?!" _What the hell was that supposed to mean!?

He looked at her. "You broke your word."

Again, he said that! Sakura wanted to scream her frustration. She took a couple of deep breaths and thought again. Okay... it seems that he has some serious issues about knowing right and wrong... so... how should he be logically... she stopped at that thought. Was it just logic driving him now? Cold hard logic? But... even if that was all... then... what about the rest of him? He apparently didn't know right and wrong... she wondered as she looked at him again. If he didn't know right and wrong anymore... then... it was like he was a little kid again. A blank slate. He didn't know what was right and what was wrong. Was that why he was so interested in the surroundings, not caring what he saw? Merely trying to understand the simple concept of life again?

If... if he was a blank slate, just taking in whatever he could to try and find himself again... then she was in the perfect position. He was keeping her with him, alive for whatever reasons. That meant she could 'mold him' in whatever way she chose! She could teach him right and wrong again, and this time make sure he got the lesson right and didn't mess it up. The first thing she would do... her face fell.

The first thing she did was prove she was untrustworthy and wouldn't keep her word. She wanted to slam her head against a rock. _STUPID, STUPID, STUPID,_ she yelled at herself. If he really was a blank slate, then the first impression she just gave him was not to trust anyone. _IDIOT!!_ She screamed at herself.

_Ok... ok... calm down..._ she told herself. It wasn't unrepairable, but it was a slight setback. She could fix this... hopefully. She looked at Sasuke again. Why was he keeping her with him? If he was just running on cold, hard logic, then what was he thinking? How did he view this situation? What did he see her as? She didn't know. She didn't know what to think anymore.

Still... there was one question she had to know. "...Sasuke... what do you see me as?"

He looked at her again, and seemed to contemplate the answer. Finally, he went back to tending the fire, and not responding.

She frowned. "...um... what do you see yourself as?" He would at least answer that, right?

"...you don't listen. I told you I don't know myself anymore, thanks to you."

"_Then… come back with me…" Sakura told him. "I can vouch for you… Konoha, Naruto and the others…"_

"_No," Sasuke told her firmly. "That won't help. I don't know myself anymore now, thanks to you. I don't know what to do, what to achieve, how I would achieve it. Nothing. I need to find those answers."_

'Crap.' Sakura thought, taking a deep breath as she settled down. Perhaps tomorrow would give her some more ideas.

**A few hours later, Konohagakure**

Tsunade was going through the paperwork as usual. Giving a brief yawn, she reached downward and opened the drawer to her sake stash with a smile on her face.

"Tsunade-sama!" Came Shizune's voice as she ran in, causing the Fifth to quickly slam the drawer with the stash closed. _Couldn't you had waited a few more minutes?!_ she thought irritably. "What is it now, Shizune?" she asked annoyed.

"We just got a report from Sarutobi Kurenai... the Fire Nation reinforcements... the intel report was wrong!"

That snapped Tsunade out of her anger daze, causing her to give her first apprentice her full attention. _Please... please don't say what I think you're going to._ "What? What happened?"

Shuzine was breathing hard. "The Fire Nation troops... they're not going to arrive in a week's time... they're going to arrive tomorrow!"

The Hokage could have sworn her heart stopped temporarily. So soon!? "Get me Shikamaru now! I don't care if you have to drag him here in his underwear, but do it!"

Shizune was already bolting out of the room while Tsunade slumped back in her chair. How the hell did this happen? The Fire Nation troops would be arriving tomorrow, three days time, not a week like they were initially informed. How could someone make a mistake of this magnitude?

Forcing herself to calm down, she gave it some more thought and came down to three possible answers.

One was that it was simply a mistake. False information and mass deceptions were factors in war as well. With each side planting false information for the enemy to act on, allowing one to root out traitors, spies, lead the enemy forces into traps, or leave a position open to attack. One always had to be careful when receiving information, as they never knew when it might be a ruse, or genuine information. Accurate intelligence more often led to victory than just plain brute force. Still, she did not believe this was the case. For one, the information wasn't completely wrong. The Fire Nation troops were still heading from Omashu to Ba Sing Se, it was just the time difference that was wrong. For another, if this was false information planted by the Fire Nation, she did not see what they would gain from it. By doing so, they alerted their enemies to what they were doing and risked having their own operation fail, instead of going to the city unexpected and unopposed. Taking all this into account, she did not believe that a mistake had been made on Fire Nation misinformation.

The second possibility was that there was an enemy spy in their midst and deliberately misinformed Konoha about the time reference. It was more than possible. Konoha had spies and agents in other villages. They had a high ranking one in the Cloud Village, which had supplied them information on enemy movements from the beginning of the war and other crucial information, for example. And while it was possible that there was an enemy spy in their village, Tsunade found it unlikely. Despise Danzo and his Roots as she may, she did have to admit they were good at their jobs at finding dangers and eliminating them (it was the way they did their jobs she didn't like. Way too brutal and deadly. More than was necessary). She was confident that he would have dealt with any operative that tried to infiltrate their village. Still.... no one was perfect, and she made a mental note to have an ANBU unit to do step up in their duties.

She hesitated at the third possibility as it was the she liked the least. Someone had deliberately misinformed them about the Fire Nation's movements. Someone who felt they had something to gain from the enemy by providing their intelligence and troop movements. Someone like that who covered their tracks well would be able to leak their plans and operations, while at the same time avoid suspicion, otherwise they would had been caught already. It did seem like the most probable answer to this fiasco, but the thought of it made her stomach turn.

There was a traitor among them.

She was jerked out of her thoughts at seeing Shizune dragging Shikamaru by his ear into the office. "Ow, ow, ow, what?" The young man complained. "Will you at least tell me what this is about dammit?"

"I'll tell you what this is about," Tsunade snapped. "The report was wrong, the Fire Nation is _not_ arriving in a week's time." At that, Shikamaru stared at her in disbelief as she continued, driving the point home. "They arrive in three day's time. As in _tomorrow._"

Shikamaru took this in and shook his head. After uttering his own swear word, he looked directly into her eyes. "Then we have to take what we have and strike now."

Tsunade merely nodded, anticipating this response. "The Second and Fifth Units will be here in two hours. We'll have the Royal Guards begin moving into position," the young special jonin continued. "We'll have to go without the Ninth Unit and the Resistance forces, but we have no choice."

"Do it. Inform Kurenai and have her head back to tell Kakashi. Then prepare yourself as well. Do whatever it takes."

Shikamaru nodded and left, while Tsunade glanced at Shizune. "Get me the ANBU Captain on duty."

**Ba Sing Se, one hour later.**

Azula was standing on top of the King's Palace, overlooking the entire city. Her Dai Li had caught an Earth Kingdom Royal Guard and under her personal questioning learned some very troubling information: the Royal Guards were on the move. They had been made aware of her coup and were now acting. Both them and the Leaf shinobi would be here in an hour's time to liberate the city. She knew that other members of the Guards inside the city itself were being roused and informed of the situation. With enemy forces in front and others behind, Azula felt herself trapped. With only the Dai Li at her command, she knew she would not be able to hold the city.

There was only one thing left to do then: hurt the enemy as much as she could.

Looking at the Dai Li Agents behind her, she spoke. "Destroy this place. Destroy Ba Sing Se. Burn down the buildings, kill the people, shatter their resolve and spirit. Spare no one. Turn this place into a graveyard."

* * *

A/N: and so ends chapter 4. A bit shorter than my other chapters, but I covered all the stuff I intended, so it's alright. Next chapter should be quite intense with a few surprises.

Nothing else to say, really. Hoped you enjoyed the chapter. Please review. Like to know how many people are reading this.

_I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon Studios respectively. Also Bending the Jutsu belongs to Son Kenshin. Thanks to Paintball Gamer for betaing!_


	5. Massacre of Ba Sing Se

Chapter 5: Massacre of Ba Sing Se

The day had started out normally for the citizens of Ba Sing Se. People got up to work, pickpockets went out to make a 'living', and students went to school or the university, where some would try to cook up some excuse why their assignment was out. The monorail cars were busy as usual, shuttling citizens all over the city to attend their needs, pleasures and desires. The Royal Earthbending Guards were making their usual patrols along the Inner Wall, as well as the smaller ones that divided the grand city into the separate rings: Lower, Middle and Upper Rings, while Kakashi's messengers were quietly informing them what to do in the coming hour. The cops wandered the streets like usual, looking for signs of lawbreaking or other problems.

With the overwhelming portion of the population ignorant to the change of leadership, it seemed like an average, boring day. That's why no one questioned when the Dai Li began appearing all over the city, in groups of four or five. They only made it an extra point to keep their mouths shut and hoped they didn't attract the attention of these men.

And then the screams began.

Nearly one thousand Dai Li agents began attacking at once. Some shot their rock gloves at the passing citizens, filling their bodies with sharp deadly stone as they fell dead on the ground in heaps. Others began earthbending the buildings, collapsing them with ease, some others grabbing torches and throwing them on the buildings. In the Outer Ring, where it was just a collection of poor wooden buildings packed together, it was just a dreadful combination. The flames began spreading like wildfire all over the Outer Ring, as similar ones sprung up in the Middle and Inner Rings.

By now, the people were realizing what was happening and all began running as fast as their legs could take them. Most didn't get far as the Dai Li cut them down. At that, the cops and Royal Earthbending Guards snapped out of their shock of what the Dai Li were doing. Even those who knew about the coup weren't sure what was going on, but one thing was clear: the Dai Li had to be stopped!

With that, the Police and Royal Guards abandoned their duties as they converged on the Dai Li. They had superior numbers to the Dai Li, while the Dai Li were better trained. As a result, the fighting between the groups was about even. However, that did not stop the rampaging destruction to the city. In fact, it only enhanced it with every fight.

On top of the wall dividing the Middle and Upper Rings, Yamato, clad in his Dai Li attire, just watched the carnage below, his stomach turning. If there had been any doubts that the Dai Li were not like the ANBU, they were gone now. He knew that they would obey any order Azula gave, but to do this? This was their home. Family, friends... didn't that mean anything to these men?

Apparently not.

Yamato just watched. He had been there when Azula and the Dai Li learned of the plan to retake Ba Sing Se, but that was still nearly an hour away. They would arrive, but by then the damage would be done. Right now, however, there was only one question on his mind.

What should _he _do?

He had acted on instinct when he decided to infiltrate the Dai Li and Azula's inner circle. Now he wished he hadn't acted so hastily, or at least set up with Kakashi what he intended to do. He was alone here and had no way of organizing the Earth Kingdom forces in the city with the fighting well underway. The way he saw it, he had two options. He could either just hide during all this and continue his role as spy...

... or he could abandon his disguise and fight.

The heat and death continued to increase around him as he gazed down on the city again. If he did fight... he doubted he would survive. There were too many Dai Li out there and he was just one man. Even if the Dai Li were inferior to him, he simply couldn't be everywhere. Even if he did help, would his one life make that much of a difference? Could one man affect the outcome of a monstrosity like this?

New screams came and his decision was made.

"Seems I don't have the luxury of soul searching who I am now..." Yamato said to himself quietly. Seems he would never know the answer of whether he was Tenzo or a clone of the First. He quickly made a Wood Clone and sent it to free the remaining Council of Five and Iroh. "Or to play it smart. Now is simply the time to act." With that, he discarded his Dai Li outfit as it fluttered to the ground, revealing his own shinobi outfit. "Let the battle be joined!"

With that, he took off running down the wall towards the streets below. In this section, landing on the ground amidst the ruined buildings and scattered down, he threw three shuriken at the nearest Dai Li. The weapons buried themselves in the men's necks, killing them instantly. The other two Dai Li looked at him before he sped towards them, elbowing the first in the gut hard. He then spun around the man and used him as a shield as rock gloves pierced the Earthbender. He then kicked the body at the last one. The Dai Li stumbled a bit as Yamato got around him and snapped his neck.

A scream sounded in the distance. Jerking his head in that direction, he bolted. He found three Dai Li tearing up a neighborhood with the people fleeing. Quickly, he formed four seals and shouted "Mokuton: Jinsoku Moku Kunai (Rapid Wood Kunai)!"

Out of his fingertips, small wood fragments blasted out in rapid successions, striking down two of the renegade earthbenders at once. The third, however, managed to dodge. He stomped the ground, then pulled his arms apart. A fissure appeared before him as it snaked it's way to the ANBU. In response, he slammed his own foot on the ground, sending the fissure going into another direction. He then quickly thrust his arm forward, making the fissure at the Dai Li's feet erupt forward at the man. With a fearful look on his face, he fell into the newly formed crack. As he struggled to gain his footing, Yamato clapped his hands.

The fissure closed up immediately. The Agent didn't even have time to scream.

That's when Yamato noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A rock glove. Missing him by a hair, he saw another Dai Li emerge from a nearby house, covered in blood. The man kicked his stone shoes at him, followed quickly by the other glove. Yamato batted them away, then prepared his own counter. "Suiton: Hahonryuu!"

Water leapt from a nearby stream into his hand, then flew forward in a massive wave. It struck the Dai Li head on, hurling him right into a building, which collapsed right on top of him.

Seeing no one around who was alive, Yamato took off running down the street. A few minutes later, he found a group of eight Dai Li attacking a large group of civilians. Several dead bodies - including Royal Guards - were already on the group as the Dai Li continued to attack with no resistance.

He jumped at the Dai Li nearest to him, grabbed him and quickly snapped his neck. Two more turned to him, to which he threw the corpse at them while tackling a third, burying a kunai in the man's throat. Blood splashed onto him as he was then hit hard in the back by a pillar of rock.

He groaned as he looked back and launched his fist, the earth glove from his former disguise shooting out and slamming right into the man's face. He then ran over and kicked the man in the head, hurling him into a building.

He winced, and then noticed two more Dai Li. He stomped his foot, then slammed his hands together. Two slaps of earth erupted and flew towards the two men. They easily shattered the rocks, then punched the air, two rock stalagmites rushing towards Yamato. He did the hand seals, and wood erupted from the ground, forming a shield wall to block the attack.

He then formed another quick series of seals and a wooden dome encased the two Dai Li. He then quickly moved towards another Dai Li and hit him with two chops at opposite sides of the man's neck, knocking him out. That's when the two previous Dai Li broke out of the wooden dome, only to be met by Yamato's two shuriken in their necks

He then looked around. He could sense some more Dai Li approaching. Glancing back, he saw that there were still people alive. About fifteen of them. Four men, nine women, and two children.

"Run," he said to the surviving people as he ran off. Twenty seconds later, he came across a group of Dai Li attacking Ba Sing Se University.

The university was on fire. All of its buildings were ablaze with the heavy smell of smoke. The landscape around it was being covered in soot or in flames themselves. Bodies of students and professors had been impaled through the chests on rock pillars and littered the grounds like fallen leaves.

"Too late..." Yamato said in disbelief as he looked in the sky in despair. "Why? Damn it, why!?"

His eyes burned in uncontrollable hate as several Dai Li chased some of the girl students.

"No... them at least..." Yamato hissed as he charged towards the group. The Dai Li launched their rock gloves, and he barely had time to intercept them. He then threw out his arms, which produced roots that rushed forward, wrapping around the three agents. As if he were bending the roots, he moved his hands sharply and slammed the agents into the ground extremely hard.

"Run..." he said as the girls nodded quickly. As they did, a wall erupted out and crushed the girls in one motion.

His eyes widened and he looked to see nearly two dozen Dai Li standing there. The Dai Li must have been catching on to his actions. Not that it mattered.

"Damn... you..." he said, as he formed the seals. "Mokuton: CHIKONPON (Wood Release: One Thousand Roots)!"

Thousands of sharp roots erupted out of the ground, striking at all the Dai Li standing there, impaling them half of them. The rest managed to avoid or destroy the roots as one managed to get a shot off... and Yamato cried in pain when the rock glove bullet cut deep into his shoulder. He took out two kunai (ignoring the pain in his shoulder) and threw them at them. It was blocked by an earth slab and the explosive notes went off. The rock fragments covered the Dai Li's eyes as he kicked the man hard in the stomach. Four of the Agents formed boulders of various sizes and sent them right at the First's copy.

Using earthbending himself, he sent each of the boulders away from him, but was a heartbeat too slow for the last one as it slammed into his knee. Clenching his teeth, he hands flew again as he slammed his right hand on the ground. "Doton: Doryuu Katsu (Earth Style Split)!"

The ground underneath the four men rose up unexpectedly, then split off into two directions, throwing the Dai Li off balance. Yamato quickly jumped up to the nearest one and slammed his fist into the man's stomach. Using the Earthbender's shoulders as a base, he flipped over the man and planted his feet on the man's back, propelling himself at the second one, his fist striking the face hard. As gravity pushed them back towards the ground, he grabbed the traitor and hurled him at the third one, making them both land in the burning university. As he landed, he took a shuriken and sent it flying at the fourth one, killing him.

That's when he felt something crash into this back, sending him to the ground with a thump. He rebounded to see the fifth agent hurling rock after rock at him. Taking a kunai in each hand, he dashed forward, dodging each rock he could and deflecting the ones he couldn't with his weapons. Three meters away, he grabbed one of the rocks and flung it right back at the Dai Li, striking him clean on the forehead. The man collapsed in a dead heap.

He cupped his shoulder, wincing as blood flew forth.

The seven remaining Dai Li hurled out their arms and fired their rock gloves and shoes in his direction. Quickly, Yamato brought up his Moku Shouheki no Jutsu (Wood Barrier Technique) to protect himself. Once the Dai Li saw the wooden dome envelop the man, they clenched their fists, splitting their rock accessories into many small, but sharp fragments. The first batch slammed harmlessly against the dome, but more and more holes began opening up until finally, the entire front portion was shredded, and the fragments slammed into the astonished man, hitting him all over his chest.

The Dai Li members congratulated themselves as the man fell to the ground... before a puff of smoke appeared, revealing some sort of wood dummy in the ANBU's place. Startled by this, they were caught completely by surprise as Yamato came down from the sky, his feet landing on one Agent's head and smashing it against the ground. Yamato quickly drove his elbows into two of the men's stomachs, knocking the wind out of them. One came behind him as he prepared to chop Yamato's neck. The shinobi easily caught the wrist and threw the man over his shoulder on to the ground, the snapping of the Dai Li's arm ringing out. He then spun around and kicked another man in the face, sending him headfirst into a wall.

He heard something from his left, only to turn in time to see two earth columns erupt from the ground and slam into his chest, as he was too slow to perform a switch this time around. He gave a loud cry as he went sprawling along the ground. The two remaining Dai Li sent forth two boulders at him. Blocking out the pain as best he could, he stood up and brought up his hands. Once the boulders were right in front of him, he slapped his hands between them, using earthbending to turn them to dust. He opened up his hands, took a deep breath and blew out the dust at the men, hitting their eyes.

The men screamed as they tried to clear their eyes before Yamato ran up to them and buried kunai in their necks. Breathing hard to catch his breath, he quickly finished off the knocked out ones on the ground. Once he was sure he was alone amongst the dead, he leaned against a ruined wall, his hand clutching his chest. One of those last strikes had done some serious damage. A few of his ribs felt fractured or even broken. But from the way he was having trouble breathing, he wouldn't be surprised if one of his lungs had a small puncture. Terrific... he only _hoped_ it was a small one.

Hearing new screams, the ANBU quickly ran over the dividing wall in the Lower Ring and his face fell. Nearly everything was on fire; bodies of all ages were literally the ground, very few of them Dai Li. And what was worse, the screams were still very loud and apparent...

He snarled and charged forth, ignoring his injuries.

Yamato was running towards the nearest group when two fireballs slammed right in front of him, barely missing. That wasn't bending... that was ninjutsu... He quickly looked around and saw three Sound Shinobi running towards him. Oh... hell no...

"Ah... a Konoha Shinobi!" one Sound Shinobi said with a grin. "And an ANBU by the look of it... I thought that trash was gone..."

"And what's that suppose to mean?" Yamato said, playing for time. Why, he didn't know.

"I wonder if this one has a bounty... we could get a hell of a lot of ryo killing him." One of the shinobi reached back and pulled out Orochimaru-sama's bingo book that Kabuto had made with the Leaf ANBU on it. He flipped a few pages before his face lit up. "Bingo! Nogiehn Tenzo, one of their top ANBU. Protégé of Hatake Kakashi himself. Worth 47 million! We'll be drinking well tonight, boys!" The other two laughed loudly as they pulled out their own kunai.

"I got news for you guys... I'm not dead yet," said Yamato, throwing out some kunai and shuriken.

They blocked with their own kunai and charged at him.

Yamato blocked the first one and kicked at him, who quickly jumped back. The second one spat out another fireball while the third one launched a Raiton jutsu at Yamato. He leapt over the attacks, but another one tossed a kunai, which embedded itself in his back. He coughed up blood as he landed, and he panted.

_I'm in serious trouble..._ Yamato thought miserably as he painfully performed his Daijurin no Jutsu (Great Forest Technique). His arm morphed into many wood spikes, which extended towards the man who did the Raiton. They impaled his shoulder, so he retracted them and tossed the man at his two fellows. He slammed two more earth pillars into the other two Sound Shinobi, killing them. He panted, his vision beginning to blur.

Pain suddenly shot through him, causing him to give a violent yell as he felt several large boulders strike him in the back. He looked back weakly as several Dai Li - about nine of them - emerged. Two more Sound Shinobi then appeared, looking at him.

He turned to face them. He saw... a child from the corner of his eye. _I... have to protect him..._

"So..." Yamato said as he slowly walked in front of the kid, hoping they didn't notice him. "What's in it for you, guys? Why go so far as to destroy your own for the Fire Nation Bitch of a Princess?"

"Princess Azula is the way of the future," one of the Dai Li answered as they began forming a half circle around him. "With Long Feng disposed of, we would have been rounded up and stripped of our position and power, left to beg for scraps of food on streets!"

"Maybe because you've used your power selfishly to terrorize the citizens, controlling them with fear and trying to control their every thought?" Yamato suggested, slowly dropping his arms to his side.

"It was for their own good," the same man said.

Before he could do anything else, Yamato brought out the last of his shuriken and kunai and flung them at the men. Most were able to dodge them easily, but three were still hit by the projectiles. They gave a cry as they fell on their knees. The Sound Ninja held up their arms, revealing some strange gauntlets as they shouted "Oto Geiru!**"**

Chakra flowed through their gauntlets as they shot a large sound blast at the wood user. In response, he stomped his foot and lifted his arms, the earth rising under his feet into a feeble wall with him on top. As he expected, the sound waves shattered his wall and sent him flying through the air, which was all part of his plan to get away from the child and draw the enemy's attention on himself. _Run_! Yamato shouted mentally as he went into a controlled roll on the ground. As he struggled to get up, he saw his opponents blurring together. No! Not yet! _Come on, body! Just a little longer! Hold together just a little _longer!

The ground shook beneath him, throwing him off balance as three Dai Li came sliding towards him. Willing his body to fight, he grabbed the first man by his wrist and elbowed his face, only to feel a hit on his back. Dropping to the ground, he slammed both of his feet into the man's chin. The third Dai Li then raised his arms in preparation to fill Yamato's backside with stone. In response, Yamato rolled out of the way, though his right arm was cut across.

Forming the three seals quickly, he raised his hand and fired three quick wood spikes right into the man's throat. Still on the ground, he slammed his hand on the ground, and a large wooden beam burst from the ground, wrapping around one of the Sound Nin. The man screamed in pain, but one of the Dai Li came and chopped through the wood, freeing him. In a desperate attempt, Yamato changed the beam's route right at the Dai Li, piercing him through the chest.

The other Sound nin was flanked by the two remaining Dai Li, the former firing another sound blast while the Dai Li shot their gloves. Doing the only thing left that he could, he stood his ground and allowed the attacks to strike him. Giving a howl in pain, he fell forward to the ground... and while he did so, performed the last set of seals he would be able to.

Once he it the ground, he muttered. "... thousand... roots...."

Immediately, dozens of roots sprang from the earth street at the remaining opponents. Yamato managed to lift his head enough to see the Dai Li and the Sound Ninja skewered as a result. The leaf ninja breathed hard as he lay on the ground. His last jutsu had been pitiful... barely a tenth of its full strength. At least he finished this group off before... and the kid got away...

One of the Sound men gave a howl of irritation as he ripped the wood from his leg and Yamato's face fell. He missed that guy! Crap!

The enemy nin looked angrily at the fallen man, his eyes blazing with anger when a piece of debris was suddenly knocked over. Both men looked to see the kid crawling away and Yamato's eyes widened. The kid hadn't escaped after all!?

The other shinobi saw his reaction as he looked at the kid, then back to Yamato as comprehension came. "Ah... I get it..." he said, smiling. "You were trying to distract us from seeing the kid all this time. Well, well..." To Yamato's horror, he watched the man turn around and walk towards the young boy, who still hadn't realized what was going on. The Sound Ninja stomped his foot, an earth pike jumping from the ground into his hand. He walked over to the boy and held it up high. "Let's cut your reason down, why don't we!?"

Anger swelled within Yamato as he found himself sprinting across the landscape just as the Sound Ninja lowered his pike at the kid... right as Yamato leapt in front of the boy, the pike impaling Yamato's upper chest area clean through. Yamato gave a terrible cry of pain as he fell downward, barely able to keep himself from falling on the boy. "Run!" Yamato said, using his scary face as an extra means of persuasion. The kid gave a yell as he started running. Yamato only hoped he managed to stay alive.

"So you want to go first after - " The Oto nin never got a chance to finish as Yamato broke off a portion of the pike, rolled over and threw it directly at the man's face. He hit his mark perfectly; the shinobi was dead before he even hit the ground.

Gasping for air, he just lay there as he looked at the sky. Smoke was heavy and he could still feel the heat from the burning buildings. The stench of death and decay was intolerable right now. There... he had done as much as he could... the only question was... did he make a difference?

"Well, well, well... look at what we have here."

Oh no... you have _got_ to be kidding. He knew that voice. Still breathing hard, he looked over to his right to see the monster responsible for this disaster.

Princess Azula herself.

"So you're the troublemaker going around trying to play the hero," Azula said with a grin on her face as she walked over to the heavily injured man. "So sweet that it makes me want to _retch."_

"Well... that makes two of us..." Yamato said in between breaths as he struggled to his feet. It took a few efforts, but he managed. He knew he couldn't so much as dodge, let alone fight. But if he was going to meet his death here... he would be standing on his feet, held high.

Azula merely chuckled as she shook her head lowly. "One of the ninja with the Avatar... impersonating a Dai Li Agent. And I never even guessed." She clapped her hands mockingly at him. "It really was a smart move: I didn't know all the Dai Li's faces and I was too preoccupied with the Avatar and his little friends to worry about anything else."

"I certainly thought so," Yamato agreed, trying to keep his vision clear. It was getting harder and harder to see... and stay awake.

"You should have stayed that way. Who knows what sort of good you could have done infiltrating the Fire Nation." She tapped her chin thoughtfully as her eyebrows narrowed slightly. "Access to the Fire Nation's plans, strategies, inner secrets. Who knows how far you could have gotten. Perhaps even my right hand man... and I would still be none the wiser. And now look at you: beaten and battered. On Death's door. What a waste." She laughed at that, while Yamato's eyes narrowed slightly. Somehow, he doubted what she said. She was arrogant, but she wasn't a fool either. She was just mocking him right now, pure and simple.

"While your praise is amicable…" Yamato used that word very loosely, but he was going to show her he could play the game as well. "I doubt I could ascend that far as a spy. I don't have your sense of cunning..." He looked at the disaster around him. "Or ruthlessness."

The Fire Princess looked amused. "Oh, I don't know. I think you sell yourself far too short. I saw the way you dealt with that kid, for example."

He felt his heart tighten up. Azula noted his reaction and laughed loudly. "Oh, don't worry. I won't go after him. It'll be interesting to see if he manages to survive the rest of this on his own."

Yamato had the very real urge to strangle Azula to death right now. "'Interesting'... is that what you think of all this?" he asked, gesturing around at the chaos, fighting and screaming.

Azula nodded. "Why, yes. Don't you? Look around... a powerful organization of Earthbenders turning on their fellows after only a week's worth of my influence." She gave a slight laugh again. "Even I didn't know I was _that_ good."

"Why?" Yamato asked as a building fell over in the background.

Her answer came smoothly. "Why not? I found out about Konoha's plan to liberate this city, and we couldn't have that, now could we? The Fire Nation's spent the last hundred years trying to conquer Ba Sing Se, my stupid Uncle's siege only the latest attempt, though admittedly, it was the closest anyone's ever gotten. We couldn't allow Ba Sing Se and the Earth Kingdom to regroup and fight back. This way was the only way left to ensure victory for the Fire Nation " She smiled as she gave a flick of her hair. "You know, it's funny: when Uncle was besieging this place, he always used to say he'd burn this place to the ground. To think I'd be the one fulfilling that legacy."

Yamato was beyond pissed now. He only wished there was some way to take her down at least, to rid the world of this lunatic, when he noticed eight Dai Li land behind him. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "What's wrong, afraid of a dead man?" he said, looking back at the princess.

"Not at all," Azula replied. "Call it a memento. Let's see how long you last." With that she snapped her fingers as one of the Dai Li knelt and slid across the ground right towards him. All he could do was look over his shoulder as the Dai Li came up and reared back his fist. The man then punched forward, sending his rock glove flying... right past Yamato's head and straight at Azula.

Yamato could barely contain his surprise as Azula merely tilted her head, the rock glove zipping by her. She didn't look the least bit shocked or surprised. "AZULA!!!" The Dai Li Agent screamed as he continued sliding towards the crazy bitch. His face was a mixture of grief, anguish and above all else: anger. With that, he did an uppercut, shooting a diagonal earth pillar straight at her. She jumped in response, her foot landing on the pillar. With a simple thrust, she pushed herself off into a backflip as she landed gracefully on the ground. The Earthbender was right on top of her when she simply held out her hand and unleashed a large wave of blue flames point blank at the man. The man screamed as he ran wild, trying to douse the flames.

With that, the other seven Dai Li moved, five of them going after Azula as well. Two of them came up to Yamato as they threw his arms around their shoulders to support him. "Hold on," one whispered to him as they took off, while the other five took on Azula.

"W-Why?" Yamato managed to choke out as the two Dai Li carried him across the states.

Neither man looked at him as they gazed at the carnage around them, before one spoke.

"We... were wrong."

Yamato didn't respond to that comment, but it felt like a weight had been removed from his shoulders. He now knew for sure that he had made a difference. It didn't matter if that difference had been big or small; what did matter was that he did make a difference. To each of the people he saved and the ones that would have fallen to the Dai Li he had defeated.

He made a difference...

**Ba Sing Se, Agrarian Zone**

A force of eleven thousand Royal Guards were marching towards the city, the Inner Wall nearly in sight now. In front of them was the Avatar group. The group that was with them was the most they could gather in a short time period. The rest of the Royal Groups on the wall would continue to mobilize and head for the city, hopefully getting there in time to help subdue the Dai Li.

That is, until they noticed the smoke rising from the distance.

"Hinata," Kakashi said quietly as the girl snapped on her Byakugan. Toph, however, already fell to her knees, looking very sick at the moment. After a few seconds, she spoke. "There's... a lot of earthbending going on. It's... not a battle. They're attacking the city... killing its people... everything... just... destruction..."

"What?" Katara asked, looking over. Hinata lost the feeling in her legs as she fell to the group in a heap, tears falling from her eyes like a waterfall.

"The Dai Li... they're destroying everything... just like Toph said," said Hinata, not believing it herself. "They don't care who they attack, or what they destroy... they're just... on a rampage."

Kakashi's visible narrowed dangerously. "Double time now!"

That went without saying as the Royal Guards were already flat out running to the city where their family and friends were. The Aang Gang and Shinobi quickly picked up the pace as well. It wasn't long before they could hear and smell what was going on. Death.

The Copy Ninja pointed directly at a segment of wall. "I want a hole in that wall and I want it now!"

Twenty Earthbenders nodded as they ran forward to the wall and placed their hands on it, then pushed their hands off to either the right or left. The walls practically flew open, revealing a large entrance into the city, where the force could _clearly_ see the massacre being carried out. With that, the Royal Guards led by Kakashi and Kurenai flooded inside and commenced with the attack, while the rest just stood still as the fumes of slaughter filled their noses.

Naruto looked down at his girlfriend who was still on the ground sobbing. He knelt down and put his hand on the Hyuuga girl's shoulder. She flinched as if expecting an attacker, then looked at Naruto expectingly before throwing herself against his chest as she continued to cry. "It's okay," he told her softly as he held her close, letting his hand stroke through her long hair. "Turn off your Byakugan. Don't go in. Don't watch."

Her head looked upward, her eyes pleading to agree, but her sense of duty knowing she shouldn't.

"It's okay," Naruto whispered to her, as he placed his hands on the sides of her head and drew her close, perking a small kiss on her forehead. "It'll be okay. Just stay here... don't watch... and don't go in."

Hinata just looked down at the ground as she nodded, tears still striking the ground. Momo chatted a bit before jumping on top of Hinata's head. Slowly, Naruto stood up. "If anyone else can't handle..."

That's when he realized that it was just him and Hinata: the others had already gone inside. He hoped they knew what they were doing – hell, he hoped _he _knew what he was doing! - as he stood up and gestured at the unconscious Aang. "Watch him." Without waiting for a response, he turned and mounted Appa. "Come on, boy, yip yip!"

The Sky Bison gave a roar of agreement as he batted his tail and entered the air. Naruto began making some circles with his arms, creating a miniature tornado. With a burst of airbending breath, he blew the thing in front of them, clearing the smoke from their path as he crossed his fingers. "Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Thousands of Narutos appeared in the air, all free falling towards the ruined city as Naruto guided Appa downward, looking for survivors.

**Lower Ring – Toph and Suki**

In the city itself, Toph kicked up a lot of dust and threw out her hands, sending it to the nearest burning buildings and dousing the fire. There were few Dai Li in this part of the city and she would give anything for a life and death battle with them over this job.

"Four people!" Toph yelled out to Suki, who was beside her. "Two upstairs, one on the ground floor, one in the closet!"

"On it!" Suki said as she dashed on, the door falling to the ground upon her touch. Trying hard not to think about it, she looked around and heard whimpering. She took a step in that direction, but her foot sank a bit. Looking down, she paled and nearly threw up.

She had just stepped on a body.

It was a male. Mid thirties at least. Several pieces of wood had pierced him through, causing his death. However, it was his face that terrified her the most: a frozen expression of pure horror. As though his horror was going to last forever.

Suki had to place her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from losing her lunch as she continued running over to the debris. Kicking over the fallen table, she saw two kids, only a few years younger than her, holding each other with their faces dirty and stained with tears.

"It's alright," Suki told the boy and girl. "Go! Head outside! There will be people there to get you out of here!"

The two kids just nodded and ran out while Suki ran upstairs, to see a terrified old woman passed out on the floor. "Toph!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Get help in here! Hurry!" Not able to move the woman on her own, she quickly began opening each door she could, trying to find the last person. On the fourth door, Suki found her.

A young child, no older than four, was huddled up in the closet, holding a ruined stuffed animal as she trembled in fear.

The Kiyoshi warrior couldn't move at first at that sight. In many ways, this was the worst of everything she had seen so far. "It's okay," she said softly, in the kindest voice she could manage under the circumstances. She held out her arms and gestured the little girl to come to her. "I'll take you somewhere safe."

The girl didn't move, so Suki took a deep breath and took a step forward. The girl looked up, but didn't back away. Slowly, Suki moved out her hand and touched the child's. "See? It's okay. Come now."

That was enough since the girl walked into the warrior's arms. Holding the child closely, Suki stood up.

"What kinds of people do these things?" Suki asked herself quietly as she heard the requested help coming in. With that, she walked out of the closet, with the child and her toy intact.

**Lower Ring – Kakashi and Katara**

Kakashi slammed his Raikiri through the third Dai Li Agent straight. After dumping the bodies, he whirled and kicked the fourth one away from him. While he fought, Katara was using Waterbending to put out as much of the fires as she could. He then noticed a Sound Ninja leap from the shadows straight for the Water Tribe girl, who was too preoccupied to notice.

Again.

"Suikoudan no Jutsu (Water Shark Missile Technique)!" Kakashi yelled, using the jutsu he had copied from Kisame. It was similar to the Water Dragon, except that this was a lot sharper and faster than the Water Dragon, though not as adaptable or controllable. The Water Shark flew rapidly at the Oto nin, shredding him badly. What was left of him fell to the ground, his blood splattering on Katara, who still didn't react as she began working on the next the next building.

Shaking his head, Kakashi walked towards Katara. "How's it going?"

"Smoothly," she answered as she waved her arms around, dropping the water on the building.

"I hear Sokka and Suki are getting married tomorrow."

"That's nice."

"They'll want you to strip dance for the guests."

"Sure."

"Aang mentioned he'll be going with Toph as _more than a friend."_

"Uh huh."

Kakashi sighed, pulling the one card he didn't want to. "Oh look... your father and _mother_ are here."

"What?" she asked, looking around in both disbelief and hope. When she saw nothing besides the destruction, she gave an evil look to Kakashi. "That was low..." She trailed off when she saw the Copy Nin's stern face, looking directly at her.

"Katara... this makes the _seventh time _I've had to cover you because you weren't paying attention," Kakashi said, more harshly than he normally liked. The Dai Li he had kicked jumped him, and without looking, Kakashi swiped his arm back, grabbed the Earthbender by the throat and threw him into a wall. "You have got to _pay attention_. The battlefield isn't a place where you can afford to let your guard down."

"I know, I know. Sorry. Won't happen again," Katara said in a hurry as she turned her attention back towards the building, raising her hands, but Kakashi grabbed her wrist.

"What are you doing!? I have to help these people and...!"

"Katara," Kakashi interrupted. "You're leaving the hotzone here."

"What?" Katara asked in disbelief.

"Gone. Out of here. Take your pick."

"Don't," Katara said, her voice lowering. Then her eyes looked directly at him as that voice became harder. "You can't just expect me to stand by and do nothing when all this…!" She waved around at the area. "I can't just ignore all these people!"

"Katara," Kakashi interrupted again. He knelt down and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, speaking much softer. "Combat and the front lines isn't the only way to fight or help. And not everyone is suited for it. You're brave and strong, no one is denying that. Certainly not me. But right now, you're not focused. You're too concerned with others and not yourself. That's dangerous on the battlefield. It's going to get you killed." He smiled at her. "But there's still a way for you to help. Right now, there are a lot of injured and frightened people."

He stood up and pointed in the direction of the Inner Wall, where Kakashi had ordered the Royal Guards to escort the survivors to. Away from the death and carnage. "Go and help with the relief efforts."

She considered for a moment, before holes began appearing all around them, seemingly out of thin air. For a second, nothing happened. Then men and women began rushing out of them, heading towards the empty streets.

The Leaf forces had arrived.

They hesitated for a split second, clearly startled by what was happening. But as they were all professionals, not one stopped to ask themselves why this was happening; they just knew it was. With that, they all scattered out to do their jobs.

"Look, more help was arrived," Kakashi said, looking back at the girl. "Now go. Go help the injured."

Katara looked at him, then at the shinobi as they swarmed the place: some bursting into burning buildings, some converging on the Dai Li and few enemy shinobi, and some attempting to put out the fires. The screams, however, were still very much apparent. She looked back at Kakashi and slowly nodded as she took off running towards the Inner Wall and Agrarian zone.

The Jonin watched her go for a moment before turning his attention back to the task at hand. Flipping through several channels on his radio until he found the right frequency, he contacted the shinobi forces. "This is Kakashi. Give me an update on who's here."

"This is the Second Unit," came Namiashi Raido's voice.

"The Fifth is here as well," came a familiar voice that made Kakashi smile. Sarutobi Asuma. "The Ninth... didn't arrive in time," he continued, referring to Maito Gai's Unit.

"Understood. As you both can see, the situation has radically changed. So we're also changing our game plan. Raido: have your Unit on damage control. Asuma: engage the enemy. Move fast, we've lost too many people already!"

"Roger that!" both men sounded as they went about their tasks. Feeling only a bit better about the situation, Kakashi was free to do a task he wanted to do in the beginning.

With that thought, he headed towards the Inner Ring.

**Lower Ring – Kurenai and Sokka**

Kurenai had only recently gotten married. With the news of war coming and Asuma's encounter with the Akatsuki Duo that he had barely survived thanks to backup arriving earlier than expected, they decided they'd had enough close calls. They pushed up the wedding in a week's time, only to hear that her student and four others went missing. So instead of an elaborate ceremony, they invited a few close friends and had Tsunade perform the ceremony. It was over in fifteen minutes, then they were sent out on their assignments.

It hadn't been much, something she was still privately sore about. She and Asuma had promised each other that they would make their honeymoon all the more special to make up for it, only to have fate intervene again when news of Hinata and the rest had been found. Kurenai found herself volunteering to go help before she realized the words had come out of her mouth. Asuma, thankfully, had smiled and mentioned something about him and the guys hanging out before things got messy.

Kurenai had been grateful that Asuma had been understanding and accommodated her again, but she still felt guilty for brushing him off. When her radio went off announcing Asuma's presence, she felt her heart drop again. They were to meet again in the battlefield? She couldn't help but feel as if fate was trying to separate them more and more.

Once this battle was over, she was going to find a way to make it up to him. She owed her husband that much.

"So you and your man going to want some quiet time tonight?" Sokka asked, holding his boomerang in one hand and machete in the other. He was currently peering inside a house suspiciously, chanting 'Come out, come out, wherever you are'.

Kurenai felt as if she had been slapped. "How did you know?"

Sokka jumped downward to a pill of debris, then slowly inched his head over it, eyes slanted as he continued looking for the Dai Li. "You keep staring at your ring. Not as fancy as other ones I've seen, but I can still tell what it is."

The Genjutsu Mistress glanced at her ring against her will. Shinobi rings were plain looking on purpose. Expensive jewelry just attracted attention and alerted the enemy you had a significant other. She knew the kid was bright and it seemed he was brighter than he let on. Intentionally, perhaps? Or maybe he was just a lucky guesser? "Yes... I am," she admitted quietly.

"Makes sense," Sokka said, slowly standing up, then jumping off to the shadows. "Everyone's got someone they care about... I'm learning that more and more."

"Is that right?" Kurenai asked, amused. She was curious as to just what this boy had learned. Or thought he learned, whichever the case might be.

"Yep," he said, jumping to the next building and looking around the corner. "You know, at first, I thought that protecting those you knew was the only important thing. My sister. Aang. Suki. Naruto and the others. But it's not."

"No, it's not," Kurenai agreed, casually walking behind him.

"Uh huh. The more and more we travel, the more that message's sunk in. Lot of people don't want to fight, but are invaded anyway. We can't just focus on ourselves or those close to us when we want. Everyone's important, even those you don't know." He paused and considered. "Maybe even especially those you don't know. Otherwise... this happens."

Massacres. Unspeakable evils. Lives lost. Kurenai just gave a silent nod. Even if you didn't know these people, they were important to someone. That's what mattered... and if you forgot that, then you didn't deserve to be fighting. It seemed she did underestimate Sokka to a degree. Deciding to play the game, she said "So, therapist Sokka, what do think I should do about my husband?"

He just shrugged. "Whatever makes you and him happy. That's the entire point, isn't it?"

Kurenai felt herself smile. It seemed they really were teaching each other, instead of just the shinobi teaching them. Not that she was going to admit she got love advice from a preteen. Anko would make her die from embarrassment. As well as several others she could name.

Maybe she should tell Sokka there was no one else around this area so he could stop his stealth antics. Well... maybe after a few more blocks...

**Middle Ring – Naruto**

Naruto guided several people onto Appa. "Alright, go! Go!" Appa gave a small nod before he took off flying. That had been the fifth group he had sent off with Appa so far.

This hadn't been easy by far. It wasn't the fighting, though; it was the memories. He greatly wished he hadn't made so many Shadow Clones... for every one that was destroyed, he got another scene of devastation, of ruined bodies and lost lives. Sometimes they came all at once, others just one by one. No wonder Hinata had broken down at seeing so much at once.

_Get a hold of yourself, _he mentally berated himself. Focus on the job now, mourn and complain afterwards. Forcing the images out of his mind, he walked down the street, not noting that one of the buildings had started cracking rapidly. It continued cracking until the support beams themselves gave out, and the burning building fell right towards the blond boy... with him none the wiser.

"Watch out!" Naruto jerked at the voice as a person came running by and grabbed his arm, dragging Naruto out of the way and just missing the building by inches!

"Thanks ma..." He trailed off as his jaw dropped.

It was Jet!

It wasn't possible! He was sure he remembered Jet being fatally injured in the Dai Li base underneath Lake Laogai. Sakura had said only Tsunade herself could have healed Jet at that point. "H-how?"

Jet gave a small, sad smile. His hook swords were bloodied, as was the rest of him, and he looked like he had a small limb on his right leg. "I'm no ghost, if that's what you're thinking."

"T-then... how?"

"I'll explain later," Jet promised as he beckoned Naruto. "Right now, we have a city to save. Smellerbee and Longshot are this way."

Naruto rarely regretted his decisions, but one that he would always regret was leaving Jet behind, fatally injured or not. Leaving a comrade behind was not something he wanted to do; yet that was what he did with Jet and the others. So with that thought, he followed after Jet.

**Upper Ring – Kakashi **

Hatake Kakashi jumped from building to building in the Inner Ring as he made his way to the palace. Despite a few scare fires, the Inner Ring was mostly untouched by the disaster. Since the Royal Guards stationed in the city itself were mostly at the palace, it made sense. Still, he wished that the Lower Ring had received more attention. That had been hit the worst.

He arrived at the palace without difficulty and rushed inside. His destination was Ba Sing Se Prison, the maximum security prison located underneath the palace grounds. A Dai Li he had defeated mentioned that the remaining four of the five Council of Five Generals were locked within those cells. He only hoped Azula hadn't ordered their executions as well.

The thought of the firebending princess made him burn inside. How the hell could she order the extermination of an entire city like this? He didn't know what was worse: the fact she did, or the fact that the Dai Li had actually carried out the order themselves. Just how could they turn on their own at a drop of a hat!?

He pushed that thought out of his mind. No sense in wondering about that now. He just had to rescue the Earth Kingdom Generals... and Iroh.

Kakashi paused at that thought. He personally hadn't met Iroh himself, only knew a little from what the others had told him. He was Zuko's Uncle, and a powerful Firebender. For reasons he didn't fully understand yet, Iroh had sought Aang out to help the Avatar rescue Katara, Hinata and Zuko from Azula's clutches. Zuko and Aang had apparently bonded to some degree in that short time together because Iroh had covered the escape at the price of his own freedom.

Whatever his reasons, his act deserved him to be set free as well. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

He found the prison entrance soon enough and ran inside, checking the cells in a flash. He found the first general, Sung, alive and well. Though the man was cowering. Not that that was surprising. Kakashi mentally kicked himself. Okay... that was unfair. Just because he didn't like the man didn't mean he should kick him while he was down.

Taking out a kunai, he picked the lock and kicked the door open. Sung, in a prisoner's clothes, crabwalked to the back of his cell, not recognizing Kakashi.

"It's alright, General," Kakashi told him, stepping into the light so Sung could see him clearly. The man blinked before weeping happily as he crawled over and kissed Kakashi's feet.

"That's enough," Kakashi said, slightly disgusted as he told himself again not to be unfair.

"Thank you, thank you," Sung repeated over and over finally standing up. "That..." he squirmed with fear as he uttered Azula's name. "... was going to execute us tomorrow!" He closed his eyes painfully. "Of course... she said that everyday... it was one of the little games she played..."

At that, he felt a touch of sympathy for the man. He hoped he never found himself as Azula's prisoner. "I understand," he said, half lying. "Listen... where are the others? We need to regroup and re-establish the chain of command."

Sung looked positively appalled by that, but nodded anyway. "Yes... yes... of course! The other three are a bit further down, right next to each other! Should be able to find them easy enough!"

"And Iroh?"

"Who?"

"... the Fire Nation prisoner..."

"What about him?"

"Just tell me where he is," Kakashi ordered, close to losing his patience.

"... okay..." Sung said meekly. "End of the hallway, second level."

Kakashi nodded as a second one of him poofed into existence. "Alright, go with my clone to the surface. You need to organize the Royal Guards and finish driving the Dai Li out."

"I... I... do...?"

"_Yes,_" Kakashi said in a dark tone.

"...okay..." he said in a very small voice as the two left. Kakashi watched the general and clone go until they were out of sight before hurrying down to the rest of the cells. Thankfully, there were no guards or traps down here and he managed to free the other three Generals with ease, all of which were a lot more eager to help out than Sung had been. Each of them bolted out of their cells when they heard the news, much to Kakashi's relief. He could only hope they managed to contact How soon. The man was the leader of the Council of Five, after all.

Once the fourth General was heading out, Kakashi ran down to the second level. He would be able to meet this famed Dragon of the West. He ran down the wall... only to see that one of the cell doors was now lying on the ground. Not sure he believed what he was seeing, he ran faster. Sure enough, the cell door had been blown off somehow... and it was Iroh's cell.

Looking inside, he was not surprised to see it was empty. He then looked at the doorframe and the door itself. He didn't see any signs of fire to blow the door off. Instead, what he did find looked like black scorch marks similar to what was left behind by his Raiton attacks.

Whatever the case was, it was apparent: Iroh had escaped somehow. How long ago, why, and where he was going, Kakashi had no answers.

**Lower Ring - Katara**

If there was one thing Katara felt she would remember to her dying breath – even if she lived to be _two _hundred years old – it would be the screams.

All ages, both genders. Young and old. Soldier and civilian. All of them. People were _dying_! Being killed by agents that they had trusted to protect them and keep them safe. And the worst part was that, even with all the help that had arrived, the screams were _still present. _And growing...

She had no idea why things seemed to be getting worse, as opposed to better. From what fragments of conversation were heard, the Dai Li were just too spread out across the city and there was still about half of them. And each one was ready to fight to the death. They had nothing to lose anymore and it was too late to go back for them. They just seemed determined to take as many others as possible with them.

She made it to one of the openings in the Inner Wall and came to a dead stop.

The number of people gathered there was just _staggering. _Tens of thousands of them huddled together, crying and hurt. Children called for parents, spouses looked for their others, men and women desperately calling out names of their children, trying to find to them amongst their fellows. The sight was just heartbreaking, because she knew there were more areas all around the city just like this one...

She couldn't take it anymore. Breaking off to a run, she headed towards the outer most area where they had first arrived. Not even asking why the Hyuuga girl was still there, she was beside him, crying. "Aang... please... wake up. This has to stop! The Dai Li are killing everyone! Ba Sing Se is being destroyed! Please... please... wake up... we need you..."

In Aang's mindscape, the young Avatar was standing in a ruined wasteland, not able to see, hear, or even feel anything around him. He just stared into the distance, wondering where everyone was.

'Your friends...everyone needs you now...Aang...' It was Roku's voice that he heard suddenly as he looked to see the old Fire Nation Avatar standing to his left. When did he get there? 'You need to wake up.'

'But... I'm dead... aren't I?' Aang asked himself/Roku. 'I... failed... the Avatar State... the lightning...'

Roku softly shook his head. 'No, Aang. Thanks to the Oasis Water of the Spirit World, your life has been saved,' This time, it was Kiyoshi talking to him. He had to turn to his right to see the powerful Earth Kingdom Avatar. 'You need to fight, to correct the mistake I made.'

'Mistake?'

'The Dai Li. I created them in my lifetime to help settle a dispute with the current Earth King and the citizens. They were supposed to protect Ba Sing Se's cultural heritage on the condition that the King allowed the citizens more personal freedoms. I never imagined they would become so corrupt in their work, but now they have gone too far in their actions. You must stop them, Aang.'

Roku spoke to him again. 'Take our power, it should recover your body enough to use all three bending disciplines you mastered. I'm afraid the Avatar State, however, is closed to you. But at least you can make a difference.'

Back in the real world, if Katara had clear eyes as opposed to her closed water-sogged eyes, she would have noticed Aang starting to fidget. Then one of Katara's tears fell on his face, and color flooded back into his face.

"Katara..." He whispered.

"Aang?" Katara gasped as Aang's eyes slowly opened. His tattoos began glowing, and the wounds, except for the one on his back, became fully healed.

"Urg... I feel like Appa ran me over..." Aang said, sitting up. "Twice..."

Aang was back!

A/N: And so ends the next chapter, with the massacre in full swing and friendly forces arriving, with the return of a few characters I bet none of you were expecting. Specifically, Jet and Aang. As to Jet, hopefully I should get in the next chapter how he survived his ordeal. Not entirely sure if Son Kenshin plans to save him or not in Bending the Jutsu, but this is an AU of his fic anyway.

Well, I hope you were able to enjoy this chapter, such as Yamato's stand in it, and the different character interactions. One thing I hope to show in this story that war isn't just about fighting, but also focuses on the choices you have to make before and after battles, as well as different points of views and reasons why people fight for what they do. But in the end, it comes down to one truth: war sucks.

Again: I ask if people are reading this story, leave a review or some sort of indication that you're reading this. Only got one last chapter – thanks Son Kenshin! - and am really starting to wonder if people are reading this.

Chapter was a bit shorter storywise than I planned, but it was trying out longer than I thought so I decided to stop it here. Seemed ideal.

Mokuton: Jinsoku Moku Kunai (Rapid Wood Kunai) is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Wood Element. Yamato will form the necessary seals, which will turn his fingers into small versions of kunai that will fire at a rapid speed as he quickly replaces them, easily sending out a small horde of makeshift kunai at the enemy or enemies. D-Ranked ninjutsu

Suiton: Hahonryuu (Destruction Torrent) is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Water Element. To use this technique, Yamato will generate water to use against his opponent. This technique was seen in conjunction with Naruto's Wind Element Rasengan. These two attacks combined together to form Gufuu Suika, a large rotating water and wind vortex. B-Ranked ninjutsu

Mokuton: Chikonpon (One Thousand Roots) is a Ninjutsu technique of the Wood Element. Requiring a massive amount of chakra, Yamato will produce one thousand roots of various sizes over half a kilometer radius, ensnaring or skewering the desired targets. A-Ranked Ninjutsu. Original Technique created by Son Kenshin.

Doton: Doryuu Katsu (Earth Style Split) is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. The ninja will do the necessary hand seals, then place their hand to the ground. This will cause the earth to rise up and split apart. Once the ninja removes their hand from the ground, the earth parting will end. B-Ranked Ninjutsu

Mokuton: Moku Shouheki no Jutsu (Wood Barrier Technique) is a unique Ninjutsu technique used by Yamato. Using his ability to utilize Mokuton (wood release) techniques, Yamato will form handseals and cause beams of wood to emerge from the ground. The beams can converge to form a half spherical barrier to deflect an incoming blast.

Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu (Great Forest Technique) is a unique Ninjutsu technique used by Yamato. Using his ability to utilize Mokuton (wood release) techniques, Yamato will extend a large mass of spikes from his arm. These spikes can act both to impale his target and as a barrier to protect a comrade.

Oto Geiru (Sound Gale) is a ninjutsu used by Sound Shinobi. They will gather chakra around their gaunlet amplifiers, which converts the chakra into pure sound. Sound nin will launch the 'sound blast' at their opponent, which is not unlike a wind based one. C Ranked ninjutsu.

Suiton: Suikoudan no Jutsu (Water Shark Missile) is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Water Element. The ninja does a string of hand seals which then causes a column of water to rise from the water and then strike their target. Sharper and faster than the Water Dragon Missile, but harder to control. B Ranked ninjutsu.

_I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon Studios respectively. Also Bending the Jutsu belongs to Son Kenshin. Thanks to Paintball-Gamer for betaing!_


	6. Many Conflicts

Chapter 6: Many Conflicts

Aang gave his eyes a rub as he tried to regain his senses and bearings. But that came to a quick halt when Katara quickly threw her arms around him, weeping slightly into his shoulder.

"Um... Katara...?" he asked, a bit confused, though silently he was quite happy at being this close to her. Before she could answer, a devastating scream filled the air. He looked over Katara's shoulder and his face fell in horror.

Ba Sing Se was on fire!

"Katara!" he yelled frantically as they pulled off each other. Aang just looked at the sight in pure horror. "What's happening!?!"

"Aang..." Katara said slowly, tears slowly falling. "It was Azula... she... we tried retaking Ba Sing Se... Azula found out somehow and... oh Aang... she knew she couldn't hold it, so she's destroying it! Everything!"

The young Avatar's eyes flew wide open as he jumped to his feet without a second thought. He formed the air ball and took off zipping into the city.

A group of Dai Li were cornering some Royal Guards and refugees when Aang crashed into the rogue Earthbenders, sending them flying in all directions.

"The Avatar!" the citizens called out, while the Earth Kingdom troops just looked on in disbelief. Hadn't the Avatar been slain?

Aang didn't respond as he looked all around him. The flames were slowly starting to die out and he didn't hear as much screaming as he knew there could be, but there were still many, many fires burning and many more people still trapped and terrified.

He found his breathing growing erratic and his heart threatening to explode against his rib cage. Flashes of the ruined Air Temples filled his mind.

_No! Not again! NOT AGAIN!!_

With that, he took off through the burning city as fast as he possibly could, reacting to each scream or collapsing body. Time and time again he quickly dispatched Dai Li Agents, shocking all who were around. Earthbender, civilian and Leaf ninja alike. Many of the Dai Li just turned on their heels and attempted to flee at the sight of the Avatar, many of whom had been present in old Ba Sing Se and could have sworn that the Avatar had met his end, as Aang continued to act as fast as he could.

He was going so fast that hardly anyone saw that tears were streaming down his face as the sounds of battle all but disappeared.

**Ba Sing Se, Middle Ring. Jet's flashback, approximately two weeks ago**

_Jet was lying on his back in a daze. He could barely feel anything as his vision started getting dark. He had told Katara and the rest that he would be fine and he meant it. Just not in the way they thought._

_Looking over to his left, he could barely make out Smellerbee and Longshot taking up positions as he felt his life slipping away. He had come to Ba Sing Se to repent for what he had done as a Freedom Fighter, to try and atone for forgetting what he was fighting for and treating innocent lives as mere sacrifices. But in the end, he had just been a tool for more harm and nearly brought an end to Katara and her friends._

_So now he was paying the price and he knew he earned it. He had no regrets._

_No. He had one regret. His Freedom Fighters. He hoped that Longshot and Smellerbee would be able to escape and that the other three would forgive him. But now it would never happen._

_That's when water began collapsing all around the earth room, right in front of the entrances and cutting off the Dai Li as the entire area seemed to shake. The two standing teens looked around, trying to figure out what was going on as a figure shimmered into existence in the middle of the room. It was the figure of a girl about his age in Water Tribe robes with white hair. Her face was so sincere she couldn't be anything but an angel._

_It seemed too cruel for someone as beautiful as this to be the one to lead him to the afterlife._

_The girl looked right at him and held up a hand. "Arise, Jet. I have need of you."_

_Instantly, Jet found his vision clear up back to normal. His breathing was much easier and he could feel the pain leave his body. Confused, he slowly stood up to his feet and began examining himself before looking at the angel – no, _goddess – _in front of him. "I... I don't understand..." Jet said, looking at his hands. Was this death?_

_The goddess smiled at him. "You are alive, Jet. I have healed your body and given you a second chance."_

_The ex-leader of the Freedom Fighters just stared at her. "I don't understand," he repeated as he looked around. "This is all your doing?"_

_She gave a shake of the head. "I am the moon; the water is a favor from a friend. As for yourself, Jet, you are needed."_

"_Yeah... I got that..." He looked over and saw that neither Longshot nor Smellerbee were looking at them. Didn't they see this goddess here?_

"_The land is in grave danger," the moon goddess went on. "It is not just the Fire Nation wreaking havoc across the land, but now warriors, soldiers and other means of war come from another world. While it brings new friends and help, I fear it may not be enough. For both worlds. Every little bit is needed. My influence on this world is limited and I require a champion to act in my stead. And I have chosen you."_

"_Me?" Jet repeated, dumbfounded._

_The moon goddess gave a nod of confirmation. "Yes, you. You will get your chance for repentance that you came to the Earth Kingdom Capital for, and I will guide you with what you need to do to help these worlds."_

_Jet wasn't sure what to believe, and part of him still thought he was dead. However, it only took one more look at her face to know otherwise, so he gave his nod. He slowly got down to one knee and held out both of his swords across his own palms. "Then my Lady, I thank you for this and offer my service. I'll serve as best as I am able."_

_A gentle smile came across her face as she beckoned him to stand. "You may call me Yue. Now arise, my knight." In the back part of the room, one of the waterfalls opened up, revealing a path._

"_This is your first task. Take your friends and flee this place of evil. Hide yourselves in the city and do not be seen by anyone. Use this time to familiarize yourself with the city as though it were the back of your hand."_

_Jet stood up slowly, a bit confused. "Um... okay. For how long?"_

"_You will know when the time is right to act," Yue promised as she held up a single finger. "One more thing, my knight: you have a second chance at life now. Make the most of it. But also remember that I am _always _watching. Even in the daytime." _

_Jet gave a big gulp as she vanished. He caught the meaning of her words _very clearly_. She had granted him life. And she could take it away if he proved unworthy..._

_It was that moment that Smellerbee saw him standing. "Jet!" she said happily as she ran towards him. Longshot just looked on, surprised etched on his face as Smellerbee pulled the sword user into a hug. "You're alive!" she cried into his chest. "How!?"_

"_I'll explain later." Jet promised as he pointed to the pathway. "Right now we have to leave."_

**Back to the present**

Naruto looked at Jet as several of his Kage Bunshins were escorting people onboard Appa. "Wow..." the blond Jinchuuriki stated. Appa gave a growl of approval. Longshot and Smellerbee had been met earlier and were currently outside the city helping the survivors. The fighting had pretty much ended now, thanks to the arrival of the Konoha forces, but there was still much damage control to do. Naruto had heard many people crying out 'the Avatar', though he was sure it was out of desperation. Or maybe some kind of trick by Kakashi to demoralize the Dai Li.

Jet just gave a nod. "So that's what we did: stuck to the shadows and kept out of sight. Didn't have any idea what she wanted me to do. At first, I had thought it might had been to help you guys doing the coup..." he trailed off as he looked around. "I never imagined this would happen, but now I see why she wanted me to know this city. To be able to move around and help as much as I could. First person I helped was a girl called Jin. The Dai Li had been five seconds away from killing her." His eyes cast downward. "We arrived too late to help the tea shop and owner where we found her."

Naruto just gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You did what you could. Think on the lives you have saved. Mourn the lost later."

Jet gave a slow nod as the last of the group was loaded on Appa. The giant sky bison gave a roar of approval and was about to take off when he stopped in mid-action.

"What is it, boy?" Naruto asked as both teenagers looked in that direction and their jaws dropped.

A small blur came running so fast it could had been mistaken as a ghost as it zipped right past them.

"Aang?" both of them said together, equally shocked. All those 'Avatar' rumors were true?

The young air nomad didn't respond as he jumped on Appa and grabbed his glider before taking off like a rocket into the air above. Once he got to a decent height he began spinning in a large circle at a fast pace. He seemed to be drawing in all the clouds towards him as they began covering the fading twilight sky.

Aang then shot back down towards the city at every source of water as it all shot towards the cloud covered sky, the clouds seemingly absorbing them like sponges as they became bigger and blacker.

Finally, the Avatar flew back towards the sky, disappearing in the newly formed black clouds. Then Naruto felt a rain drop on his face. Then another. And another.

Soon, it began pouring all over the city. Blessed rain from the heavens fell on the ruined and scarred remains of a once-grand city, putting out the remaining fires quickly.

The massacre of Ba Sing Se was over...

...but the damage had been done.

**Several hours later, Agrarian Zone **

It took several hours to ascertain the extent of the damage to the once great Earth Kingdom Capital. In a city that once boasted nearly 60 million people, 17 percent of those had been lost due to the Dai Li's actions.

10 million lives. Be it fire, destruction or even the Dai Li themselves.

Almost all of Lower Ring had been completely destroyed. Wooden buildings packed closely together were the perfect fuel for both the fires and chaos to spread.

About 40 percent of the Middle Ring was damaged or destroyed. Being of grander design, they hadn't been so close together, so the spread of fires was not as fast. Historical landmarks like Ba Sing Se University, however, had not survived.

The Upper Ring had barely suffered any damage at all. This was where the majority of the Royal Guards stationed in the city itself were located, and thus they were able to react quickly to prevent any major damage.

Of the Royal Earthbending Guards themselves, three thousand had perished in the line of duty to protect those from an enemy they never thought they would have to fight.

The Leaf forces hadn't suffered a single casualty – though there were plenty of injuries, including Raido – largely due to their late arrival. Save for one.

That's what Kakashi was doing himself right now, walking along just outside the Inner Wall where all the civilians had fled to with the rest of the group. This area was serving as a makeshift hospital with many tents and medical personnel working as fast as they could. After the infighting was over, Tsunade had sent over as much medical personnel as she could spare from Konoha to help with the devastation, and what was yet to come.

When the Aang Gang had heard of what happened, they had been shocked to the core. Currently, only three of their members were absent. Aang, Katara and Naruto. Ever since the fighting had ended, Aang was nowhere to be found, so both Katara and Naruto had volunteered to go and find him.

Kakashi wasn't looking forward to breaking the news as he, Kurenai, Sokka, Suki, Toph and Hinata all entered the tent. Momo was on Sokka's shoulder.

As they entered, all the younger members nearly gasped as they entered. In the middle of the tent was Yamato himself, on a mat being tended to by two medics of the Fifth Unit, Houshou and Iashi. What shocked the four youngsters was the two Dai Li members hovering over Yamato.

For the Dai Li themselves, most had been killed, preferring to fight to the death rather than be taken alive. A couple dozen were missing, believed to have escaped with Azula at some point during the fighting.

Fifty-eight members of the Dai Li had refused to carry out the mass slaughter, instead turning their efforts to stop their fellows and help the citizens. Not an easy feat, considering everyone had been terrified of them. Thirty-two had survived and were currently in the custody of Raido's troops. No one was entirely sure what to do with them, but it was agreed for Second Unit to hold them for now and then let the Earth King decide their fate.

Kakashi held up a hand to settle them down before they jumped the two men. "These two are the reason Yamato is here right now," he told them quietly.

They all looked at him for a moment before quickly moving to Yamato's side, tears and disbelief on their faces as Iashi took Kakashi off to the side. "How is he?"

The chunin considered his answer before finally speaking. "He's suffered a punctured lung, much internal bleeding and two vital organs were hit."

Kakashi knew where this was going, but he hoped to any god out there that it wouldn't be true.

"There's nothing we can do for him," Iashi said quietly.

The Jonin gave a low sigh. "Can you give us a moment?"

The other man nodded as he gestured for his fellow medic-nin to follow him out of the tent. The Dai Li looked at Kakashi questioningly before moving to leave themselves. Not before Kakashi put a hand on each of their shoulders and gave a solid look in the eye followed by a nod of the head.

This seemed to relieve the two men slightly as they left the tent and Kakashi walked back to the center of the room. Kurenai shot a look at him and Kakashi's face told her all she needed to know.

Yamato turned his head to see the copy-nin. "Hey... so you guys arrived..."

"Of course."

Sokka looked up at Kakashi, trying to hold back his tears and failing miserably. "Kakashi... he's... he's..."

"It's alright..." Yamato insisted, drawing all their eyes towards him. "I expected... this to happen..."

"Then why did you do it!?" Toph yelled at him.

"Because I... couldn't just stand there... and watch..." the wood user answered. "I had to do something... make a difference... and I did." He gave a pained cough at the moment, blood trickling out his mouth. "It's war. Friends and loved... ones will be lost. That's the... harsh reality... but what you each can do... is carry on the... dreams and ideals of those... who gave their... lives in the line of duty."

Suki said nothing to that. Mostly because she didn't know the man, as she had been freed from the prison when he had still been in Ba Sing Se. But she had learned that his information was what led to her freedom. And right now, he was reminding her of the bond and understanding that the Kiyoshi Warriors had for one another. So she knelt down and took his hand. "Thank you. You were the one that gave the information that led to my freedom."

A small chuckle escaped the man's lips. "That right? I'm... sorry I didn't get... the chance... to get to know you..."

Suki didn't answer that, while Hinata was just weeping silently in the background. Kakashi looked at the other man before standing up straight and gave a salute. "It has been an honor to serve with you, Nogiehn Tenzo."

Yamato... Tenzo... looked at Kakashi for a moment, then a small smile appeared on his face. He just got acknowledged that he was his own person and not some clone of the First.

A second later, there was one less person breathing in the tent.

Kurenai quietly knelt down and pulled the blanket over the man's still form. Sokka wiped a tear from his eyes, no longer pretending to be tough. "At least it's over."

"I'm afraid it's not over." came a voice from behind. They all looked to see a young man with black hair like a pineapple and a leaf shinobi headband tied to his left arm.

"Shikamaru-kun," Hinata said quietly. Toph and Sokka both recognized the name as Naruto had talked about him back in the desert. Suki just had a blank look on her face.

The young man just gave a small nod as he walked over and looked down at the covered body of Yamato. He clutched his fist tightly. "I just heard... I was hoping that..."

"We all were," Kurenai acknowledged. Suki just looked at Sokka, then Shikamaru. "What do you mean it's not over?"

The slacker looked over his shoulder directly at her. "Do you remember why we had to attack earlier than planned?"

Sokka was about to respond, then his face dropped in horror. A second later, Suki, Toph and even Hinata all got similar expressions.

"That's right. We struck earlier because the Fire Nation is arriving ahead of schedule. Tomorrow morning. We succeeded in retaking the city; now we have to hold it."

**Konoha**

The hardest part about finding a traitor was knowing who to trust. Trust the wrong person and you could accidentally or indirectly tip off the traitor that you were onto them. Or more innocently, tell the kind of person who couldn't keep a secret and would blab about it, and everyone would know about the traitor, including the said individual.

Currently, Tsunade was talking to Ibiki, Shizune and an ANBU Captain that went by the code name Raiden. Raiden had been the ANBU Captain who had been with Sarutobi during his fight with Orochimaru three years back. A Raiton expert with a long loyalty line to the Third Hokage. Tsunade felt that these three were ones for sure she could trust on this issue. With that said, she told them her suspicions about the Ba Sing Se incident. That there was a traitor among them.

"Are you sure that there could be a traitor, Tsunade-sama?" Raiden asked, putting his hand to his chin.

"No," she said. "But if you have any other suggestions to what happened, by all means tell me. I would welcome any other explanation."

No other explanations came up and Tsunade folded her hands in front of her.

"I can't believe it..." Shizune said quietly. "A traitor? Who could possibly...?"

"There are a few possibilities... Danzo, wanting control of the village himself, is a prime suspect. But we don't have enough proof to even call him into questioning."

It was no secret that Danzo desired to be Hokage and had been continually denied the position for decades now, being his original run against Sarutobi for the Third, then not even considered for the Fourth due to the focus on Minato and Orochimaru, and out-shadowed by her for the Fifth because her abilities were what were needed for the village in the aftermath of Sand and Sound's attack. She could easily see Danzo giving away a few secrets to the enemy to make her look bad, get her kicked out of office and then get himself appointed as Hokage. The man believed in 'sacrifices' to accomplish his goals, after all.

"Just give me one excuse and I'll get the truth out of him," Ibiki promised, while Raiden looked at the Hokage. "Whom else?

"There are more than a few shinobi that I have in mind," Tsunade said as she listed a few names. "To start with, Mifu Shinobu, Mimura Hamaki, Dajimu, Funeno Daikoku, Akame Iwana, and Yajirobee are some I thought of."

There were various reasons for naming these individuals. Dajimu was one of the ANBU Root and a radical for Danzo's way of thinking, as well as one of their best trackers.

Mifu Shinobu, Akame Iwana, and Mimura Hamaki were shinobi who had similar lines of thinking to Rock and Cloud – where shinobi believed they should have more direct control over the country's government than the Daimyo (Rock) or believed to be superior to everyone around (Cloud) – Shinobu believed that Leaf should have more control over the Fire Country than the Fire Daimyo and Iwama was a bit prodigious against non-shinobi, many times coming close to causing major incidents over it. Mimura Hamaki was a harder case, being a veteran from the Third Shinobi War and at one point fought alongside with the Fourth Hokage when his team destroyed a critical Grass Country bridge. As a result of living a life on the battlefield, Hamaki had often favored military solutions rather than diplomatic ways.

Funeno Daikoku and Yajirobee were more vocal against the war itself. Not that that was a bad thing, but both of them were known to get a little... too vocal at their protesting at points. The best known incident was when they tried to stall a supply caravan in order to get Tsunade to send more emissaries to Rock, Cloud and Sound. Though to their credit, they did stop the moment the ANBU told them to allow the supplies to go through. The two weren't stupid after all.

She could see various reasons for these individuals to give information to the enemy. Dajimu to support Danzo's goal of being Hokage, Shinobu, Iwana and Hamaki to do it to prove that Konoha needed to change its ways to survive in the war, and Daikoku and Yajirobee to make Konoha more willing to sue for peace with the other countries.

The Fifth sighed. "At this point, it could be any of them, or someone else altogether. We have to find the traitor..."

Ibiki interrupted. "Or traitors. There may be more than one."

Tsunade nodded, and she breathed out. "I don't want to start a witch hunt though. We have to only move in when we have proof."

"Ibiki. I want you to question all those people I just named. Do it under whatever excuse you can use, just don't let them become aware of our true suspicions. Shizune. I want you to go over the personal reports. Any stranger or strange activity that might have resulted in infiltration. Raiden. Conduct a search on this information. Follow whatever leads you can find, no matter where they lead to. And keep the true nature of your assignments absolutely secret. I don't want to tip off our hand."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," all three said as they all turned to leave the office.

She watched them go before turning around in her chair and looking out the window to the village itself. Tracking down these men would be a bit difficult seeing how most weren't in Konoha right now. Daikoku was an Academy Instructor, a senior to Iruka, so that made him stationed under Ibiki in the Fourth Unit and the only one on the list to actually be in Konoha.

Yajirobee was serving in the Third Unit, Shinobu in the Sixth, Hamaki in the Seventh, Dajimu in the Eighth and Iwana in the Tenth. Of them, the one she worried about most right now was Hamaki. He was the commander of the Seventh Unit.

And if he was the traitor... then he was in a very high position and that could be disastrous in so many ways.

She had appointed him to that position because he had experience and fought in the Grass Country – where the Seventh and Second Units were both currently located – before, so it seemed like a smart decision at the time. Her mind then drifted to the others she had appointed to commanders of Konoha's forces. Nara Shikaku headed the First Unit, Namiashi Raido the Second, Inuzuka Tsume the Third, Morino Ibiki the Fourth, Sarutobi Asuma the Fifth, Mitarashi Anko the Sixth, Yamashiro Aoba the Eighth, Maito Gai the Ninth and Shiranui Gemna the Tenth. All of them were in on key military information so they could coordinate with each other, Hamaki included.

The Hokage put her hands against her temples and tried to fight off a migraine. No... there was no point in worrying like that now. Not until she had something more solid to go on for Hamaki. Or any of them for that matter.

And if they were all true Konoha shinobi, what was her next move?

This war was just horrible. First Orochimaru and his allies got the opening strike on several of Leaf's allied countries that allowed them to control the momentum of the war. Then Ba Sing Se had been lost before they could finalize an alliance with them. Then Sakura was kidnapped by Sasuke and Tsunade had been forced to abandon her to the creep for the time being so they could retake Ba Sing Se... only to have it burned down by Azula. And now the discovery of a traitor within their ranks.

What was next? Would she be able to prevent whatever what was next to come to gain a rousing victory for Leaf and turn the tide?

She better be able to. With that, she turned back to her desk and began sending messages to the rest of their allies to see how much help they could send to Ba Sing Se's recovery efforts once the coming battle was over.

**Earth Kingdom Forest**

Sakura was trying to fall asleep. Given her circumstances, it wasn't easy and certainly _not _comfortable. She had tried. The chains clamped hard against her skin and the hard ground didn't help matters anyway.

She gave another yawn as she repositioned herself again, only to see Sasuke looming over her.

"Sas..." she didn't finish as his hand clamped over her mouth.

Sakura's eyes went wide. What was he doing now!? Before she could react, Sasuke put his other arm around her and hauled her up before jumping high into a tree, landing on a high branch.

"Sawkay?" she muttered through his hand, now more confused than actually worried.

His only response was to shoot a glare at her. Then she heard something. It sounded like galloping. Looking down at their campsite, about a dozen men on Ostrich-Horses rode into view.

The girl felt her confusion die down. So that was it. Sasuke detected these men coming and wanted to get out of there. She looked at him, then glanced down at the men and gave a slight nod. Sasuke removed his hand from her mouth but still held her rather close. She started to say something but he cut her off with a shake of his head.

She just gave a nod in return as she looked back down. Almost all of them carried some sort of weapon. Four were shoeless, so Sakura guessed that they were Earthbenders. Their clothes were rugged and mismatched, no coordination at all between them.

_Bandits_? she thought to herself as the men began searching the camp area. Sasuke put his arms around the girl again as he leapt to higher branches just as one of the men looked up.

The man saw nothing as he shrugged and continued rummaging through the area. Sakura's eyes lowered and she saw Sasuke's backpack behind one of the trees. "They'll find our stuff."

The words were out before she thought better and she fully expected Sasuke's hand again. To her surprise, he just bit his thumb and ran through the summoning seals before slamming his hand on the branch. A small snake, about three feet long, appeared.

It slithered down the tree bark on the dark side as two men kicked out the campfire with dirt, another kneeling down like a tracker and others looking through the bushes.

One came close to the pack behind the tree, but the snake managed to get the pack and get out of sight before the man found it.

The men continued searching before they gave up in disgust and rode out of sight. The two watched them go, then Sasuke grabbed hold of the chained girl as they jumped back to the ground. "Who do you think they were?" Sasuke asked when they touched the ground.

The question caught her off guard. "My guess is bandits," she replied cautiously. "They had no matching clothes, no army insignias like the Fire Nation's flame or the Earth Kingdom's coin. They were also a bit rough and filthy, like they were accustomed to sleeping on the ground."

Sasuke didn't respond to what she said as he knelt down. The snake came from the bushes, dragging the pack to him before it vanished in smoke. "Makes sense. Probably looking for a place or a target."

"Yeah, I suppose..." she trailed off as he started walking off. "What is it?"

"I'm going to follow them," the Uchiha stated.

"... and why would you want to do that?"

"To observe." Without warning, he turned around and swept her into his arms as he ran off in the direction the men had left.

"And why do you want me along?" Sakura asked, annoyed. She only grew more annoyed when he didn't respond.

They moved for about fifteen minutes before they saw signs of smoke and fire. Five minutes later, Sakura's fears were confirmed.

The bandits were attacking a village.

And there weren't just twelve.

Landing in a tree, Sasuke set her down as they looked on. Hundreds of bandits were attacking a small village, barely a hundred resistants, not unlike the first one they had stayed at. The village walls were already razed and many buildings on fire. There were a few pockets of resistance here and there, but they were outnumbered and outclassed. Woman and children were gathered in one area, while the thieves laughed at their plight.

Sakura found her anger and fear growing. Anger at what these men were doing and fear for what would happen to the survivors. Her treatment at Sasuke's hands gave her a _very _good idea on what would happen to them. She snapped her head in the young man's direction. "Do something!"

"Why?" he asked in a bored tone.

"Because they're suffering out there!"

"So?"

"Didn't we cover this already!? It's right to help people against wrongs like this! Like we did in the Wave Country!"

"Yes, we did cover that," Sasuke agreed as he crossed his arms. "Right now that's not what I'm concerned with. I told you I'm here to observe."

"So observe with your fists!" Sakura attempted. Sasuke just shrugged that time. "Fine! Do it to test your strength and power! You're an _avenger,_ aren't you?!"

Sasuke regarded her again and the pink-haired medic began wondering if she said the wrong thing. She certainly didn't want him to go back to that past mindset.

That's when he raised his hand and Sakura braced herself for the pain to come... only for her chains to fall off her. She carefully opened one eye, not sure what's she should expect.

"You want to help them?" Sasuke asked, gathering the chains in his hands. He then beckoned at the burning village. "Be my guest."

Sakura's jaw fell a little.

"Let's see how well you can fight with your power gone, Haruno Sakura."

**Location classified**

Danzo walked in the underground passages, lit by small lights hanging from the ceiling.

Even since Root had been disbanded, Danzo and his men barely used their old headquarters – a portion of ANBU Headquarters itself – and constructed this makeshift base as a result. They weren't allowed to operate together, so they made sure to avoid all public appearances of doing so, though on the rare occasions he had been seen together with his operatives, he made it known that he was 'simply catching up with old comrades'.

There was nothing wrong with that. Technically, that is.

He had just spent the evening going over reports that his Root members had submitted and comparing them to the official intelligence Konoha had concerning the war and the Avatar World. He might not be fully permitted to look at all the information he had, but he was better at these matters than that slug princess hag was.

He was currently satisfied with today's work and was on his way home to enjoy a warm cup of herbal tea. The simplest pleasures in life were often the best ones. That's when a one of his men appeared in front of him. It was Hyou, Sai's sempai and superior. "Danzo-sama."

The old man just gave a nod, indicating for him to go on.

"Dajimu and Tera have arrived."

"Ah." Perfect. His two best trackers had been on a special assignment and he was most pleased to see them back earlier than expected.

Flanked by the Jonin, he made his way to another section of the compound. A few minutes later, the two Root members were awaiting them carrying large bags. Daijmu two, and Tera one.

"Any difficulties in acquiring _them_?" Danzo asked.

Both of them shook their heads. "No, Danzo-sama." Tera spoke. "Though avoiding the attention of the other shinobi proved to be a challenge. Even now we can't stay too long or someone's going to notice our absence."

Danzo just nodded. His Root members were fighting as well, in addition to his own tasks. Both were fighting along the borders of the Fire Country serving in the Third and Eighth Units. He gave them a gesture as the three men followed him to a very special place in the base.

They continued down a series of tunnels until they came to a large room. It was sealed off with a long wood-like cage with chakra suppressing seals all along it with a single door in the middle. At the door was another agent, Terai. At the sight of his leader, he undid the seal on the door and opened it as Danzo and the others walked in.

In the room were many tables filled with vials, test tubes and other instruments, signs of many different experiments being conducted. Paper was scattered everywhere like leaves in the autumn. Despite plenty of lighting for this room, a lingering darkness hung in the atmosphere. Almost suffocating.

There was only one person in the room. This person wore small, tight brown pants that only went to her knees, suggesting that they were both several years old and too small for her. She had a small shirt of similar stature, leaving her stomach exposed. Her feet were bare and dirty, like much of her skin as though she rarely had the chance to bathe. She had short brown hair and matching brown eyes. Two small purple markings rested on her cheeks.

She was currently holding a test tube in one hand with a clipboard in the other. At the sound of the opening door, she looked and her gazed darkened at who entered. "Danzo," she said, her voice low and filled with poison.

"Now, now," Danzo chastised. They went through this every time. "Is that anyway to behave, Head Scientist and Medic of ANBU Root, Sakuranoki Rin?"

* * *

A/N: Finally got a chance to update this story again! Hope people are still reading this since I do plan on continuing it for the foreseeable future.

So the massacre of Ba Sing Se is over... but the Battle of Ba Sing Se is about to begin. And Sakura's finding herself in her own battle because Mr. Prick Sasuke doesn't feel like doing anything. Jerk.

The bandit raiding the town idea here actually was a back door idea. One I wasn't sure if I wanted to do or not. Since the Ba Sing Se battle was going in full swing and this story's main focus is Sasuke and Sakura here, I felt they shouldn't be left alone for too long, so I used it. You'll just have to keep reading to see how it goes.

And Rin of Team Minato makes an appearance... as a member of ANBU Root. Who saw that coming, heh heh.

So now I've gone and shown how Jet survived his ordeal. Admittedly, sparing Jet like this is not my first choice (though an interesting one), but I'm not ready to have him die just yet. If I had covered the Lake Laogai instance earlier, I would have done it differently than what Son Kenshin had done. Something like...

"It's okay, Katara... I'll be..."

Naruto gives him a small whack on the head and helps him up. "Shut up. We don't leave comrades behind and you're a comrade, so shut up and come on."

But my change to Son Kenshin's Bending the Jutsu didn't extend that far back, so I had to resort to a different method.

And Yamato has passed away. A necessary evil. The worst thing about war, in my opinion, is the death of those you know personally. So the closest I can mimic this for this story is to have characters we're familiar with to die. No, that doesn't mean for you to expect me to give the ax to every other character out there... but do expect a few.

So why did I kill Yamato, who hasn't died as of yet in the manga, but spare Jet, who did die from his experience in the Avatar Show? The answer is simply because I haven't had a chance to mess with Jet's character yet and want to do so, while I have another story, Quest to be the Greatest, where I can mess with Yamato as much as I want.

The miscellaneous characters named in this chapter, Mifu Shinobu, Mimura Hamaki, Dajimu, Funeno Daikoku, Akame Iwana, Yajirobee, Daijmu, Tera, Terai and even "Raiden" are all canon characters from the manga. Granted, Raiden isn't the true name, but it is still referencing the ANBU Captain that witnessed the fight between Orochimaru and Sarutobi. Look at the bios on Leafninja to see each of these characters.

Raiden – thunder and lightning

Sakuranoki - (n) cherry tree

_I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon Studios respectively. Also, Bending the Jutsu belongs to Son Kenshin. Thanks to Paintball-Gamer for betaing!_


	7. Personal Battles

Chapter 7: Personal Battles

**Root Hideout**

"What do you want?" Rin demanded, a flare of anger in her voice as Danzo took a seat at one of the many tables.

"That's hardly a way for your to behave," the old man replied. "You are my top scientist."

"Don't remind me," Rin told him coldly, setting down her clipboard and test tube vial.

Danzo resisted the urge to give a small smile. "Come now, you shouldn't be so self-degrading. You have grown much while working for me. You could probably rival Tsunade herself now."

"Tsunade-_sama _is the best there is," Rin declared, taking a seat for herself. "I'm not in the same league. And she'll always be the best."

This time, Danzo allowed himself a small chuckle at the woman's expense. Rin's medical skills had skyrocketed over the many years she had been working for him. "Even for the best, there comes a time when one is overcome by someone newer. No one remains strongest forever."

"Like you."

Danzo ignored that. "You really shouldn't undermine your own efforts. That handy little Curse Seal you invented is very useful for Root. Take pride in it."

Rin's posture shifted from one of defiance to shame as she just folded her hands, looking down on the table as her shoulders slumped a little.

Danzo had established Root many years ago after he lost the position of Third Hokage to Sarutobi Hiruzen, wanting a group specifically loyal to him to do what he knew must be done to protect Konohagakure and the Fire Country.

One of his first deeds was to craft a curse seal for his men. The original idea was to serve as a simple lie detector, making his agents incapable of lying to him, as a means of security so no one could infiltrate Root without being exposed and keeping his men in line with their duty. It had been difficult to craft it at first and the few prisoners they tested it on had their brains fried.

After Rin had entered, she managed to perfect the seal into what it was today. Making Root not only truthful to him, but also making them incapable of spilling any of Root's secrets, forcibly or otherwise. If worse came to worse, it could even erase their memories about it. A very useful tool for him.

The Root leader remembered a tiny piece of regret. He had been interested in Orochimaru's vast potential ever since day one, and hated it when Sarutobi got the boy on his genin team. He had even made a few discreet attempts to recruit Orochimaru into his own organization. At one time, that seemed like a possibility, but in the end, Orochimaru walked out, remaining with his team that would be dubbed the 'Sannin'.

Looking back now, Danzo was sure that Orochimaru had never been interested in joining Root. The single time he had been was merely a ploy for his own goals. When he deserted the village, Root Headquarters had been ransacked as well, many of its secrets taken, including Root's Curse Seal formula. Thanks to that time, Orochimaru knew exactly where and what he wanted from Danzo. He had taken the information and fled. His sources later stated that by using the blood of a young boy called Jugo of the Scales, he merged it with Rin's new seal and crafted his own version of the Curse Seal. A fact that horrified her to this day.

"There is nothing for me to take pride in," she uttered softly. "Pride isn't why I entered Root."

"Of course not," Danzo said. "You wanted to _forget_. You wanted to forget that tragic mission in the Grass country that cost the life of one of your teammates. The same teammate that had deep feelings for you that you never acknowledged because you had your eye on another."

Rin closed her eyes at that, a few tears falling.

"You wanted to be able to engross yourself in the mission completely," Danzo went on. "To forget everything else in the world except the mission so that you wouldn't be haunted by that memory. And so a month after that, you came to Root and were accepted. You got what you wanted: a way out. And for six months you had it... until that one mission where you didn't do your duty."

"I couldn't!" Rin said desperately, opening her eyes. "You wanted us to annihilate the Hannya clan in the Wood Country!"

It had happened at the end of the Third Shinobi War. All the participating villages were coming together to work out terms. The Hannya clan had planned on assassinating the Hokage and other Leaf delegates while simultaneously raiding Leaf to kill the Council, clan heads and civilian leaders. Such a move would not only have destroyed Leaf's leadership, but reduce it into a state of utter chaos that would had severely discredited them during the talks.

Danzo had got wind of the plot and acted. He had sent Rin and a number of others to stop them. It was only when they struck that Rin realized what the extent of stopping them meant. As a result, Rin stalled the rest of the team that allowed many to flee into hiding.

"We couldn't allow such a plot to succeed," the man reminded her. "If it had, not only would Leaf be crippled, but our position among the other villages would be in danger. At the worst, our allies could have abandoned us and we would be the losers rather than the victors of that war, and the repercussions would have been... deadly."

"I know that! And I agree, they needed to be stopped! But..." she looked sick at this notice. "You wanted us to kill the _entire _clan! Down to the last child!"

"Something you should have realized in the beginning instead of during the mission," Danzo said. "Because of your actions, some of the clan survived. And those survivors now continue to plot in the shadows, just waiting for the right moment to strike again. Twice they have attempted to do so. If we had gotten rid of them all in the beginning, there would be no threat from them at all."

This time, Rin didn't make any sort of remark, knowing full well what he meant.

Danzo kept his gaze on the woman. It was due to that mission that he knew Rin had to be dealt with. But she was so talented that he didn't want to get rid of her. So he needed her to _disappear. _Fate had provided the best opportunity for it with the Kyuubi attack. With the chaos and destruction, it was remarkably easy to fake her death among the many. He then moved her to this facility, a mere waypoint for Root at the time and held her here as a result.

And through his own leverage he had on her, she continued to work for him. Though not without precise precautions that resulted in her current state.

Throughout the years she had provided many useful assets for Root behind the scenes.

"You tried struggling. You tried protesting. You tried refusing to work," Danzo listed off for her, knowing it was like driving a nail into her with each word. "If you would cooperate more willingly, your living state would be much better, even while hidden from view."

"Shut up," Rin snapped, tired of this conversation. Yes, she had tried all those things to get out, but she had never tried to take her own life to escape.

Her teacher, the Fourth Hokage, told her the greatest joy and heaviest weight was to live. And she wanted to live so badly. She wanted to be able to get out of Root and live her life the way she wanted, not throw it away. Including that _one thing. _That desire had also forced her to work for this man, producing tools, seals and medicine for his deeds simply so that one day, she could escape and live.

Much to her shame.

She looked up at the man and Danzo felt the weight of her gaze upon his person. Her eyes, if nothing else, were still as strong as ever. The one part of her that would not break. That suited him just fine. He didn't want to break her. Just use her.

"... what do you want me to do this time?" Rin asked quietly, the fight out of her just like all the other times. More than once she thought about striking at the man, but it was futile with the other Root ninja there. And during these days of war, Danzo was almost never without Fuu and Torune, Root's Top Two. Even if you couldn't see them, they were always with Danzo, watching from the shadows. Even now.

At that, Danzo snapped his fingers on his good arm as Daijmu and Tera walked forward, placing the three large bags on one of the few empty tables. Rin looked at them for a moment before getting up and opening the first of them.

It was a corpse of a man in red and black armor with a faceplate shaped like an abstract skull on it. "Wow, a body," Rin said in a mocking tone. "What a surprise."

"A Firebender of the Fire Nation from the other world," Danzo clarified. That got Rin's curiosity up. While she may have been hidden away, Danzo made sure she was up to date on everything. From her teammate Kakashi getting a genin team, to Orochimaru's attack, to Akatsuki, to the discovery of the new world. Somewhat interested now, she opened the next two bags.

The second was a man in green and yellowish armor with an armored conical helmet. The third was dressed in a thick blue fur coat and pants with a thick hood and facial mask. "An Earthbender from the Earth Kingdom and a Waterbender of the Northern Water Tribe," Danzo continued as if introducing shinobi from another village.

"I guess they all had a tragic 'accident'," Rin offered up, rolling her eyes.

"They had... expired... long before we got to them," the Root Leader assured her as he gestured at the bodies. "I would like you to examine all three of them. See if you can determine just what it is exactly that determines a bender. It has to be something beyond mere chakra control. A recessive gene. A bloodline trait. Mutation even."

Rin gave him a look. "So you can replicate bending for all your soldiers?"

"So _Konoha _can replicate bending for all," Danzo corrected for her. "Bending has the flexibility needed for attack while ninjutsu has the power. A perfect union between both would result in the ultimate fighting style, one that would tip the scales of this war into our favor and bring victory."

Something that should have been worked on long before, in his opinion. Just yet another of Tsunade's decisions that he loathed. If _he _had been in control, he would have had the Avatar and his company return to the Hidden Leaf the second a method of transportation had been established, where he could be properly trained and his knowledge could be used to make the Konoha Shinobi that much stronger.

Instead, that insufferable woman allowed the Avatar and his party – including the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki – to just do their own thing in the other world and look what that resulted in: the Avatar nearly killed, the Uchiha managing to escape _yet again _and Ba Sing Se occupied by the enemy. If _he _had been in charge, things would be _much different _and for the better.

The only good news was that the woman's apprentice was gone. That suited him just fine. One less pawn of Tsunade's to worry about. And perhaps this would convince the Kyuubi host that he should be focusing on _ending_ the Uchiha instead of that ridiculous notion of 'saving' him. The very thought of that made him want to vomit.

With that thought he stood up from his chair. "Proceed with your work. I want daily updates on your progress with a full report at the end of each day."

"... yes sir," Rin replied after a moment as she walked to a table and put on some gloves before picking up a box of tools. She walked over to the Firebender and started to work as Danzo left with the others. Once he, Tera and Dajimu left, Terai closed the door and resealed it. Hyou, who had been standing outside with Terai, merely nodded as the four walked down the corridor again, while Terai once again assumed his guard post.

"Tera. Dajimu. Return to your Units. I will contact you with further orders later."

"Sir," the two men said as they formed seals for the Dimension Jumping Jutsu, vanishing soon after. Danzo knew that they would arrive at a secure location Root had established in the Earth Kingdom, then jump back to their Units as though they were never gone.

That left just Hyou and himself. Hyou was his principal intelligence officer. Responsible for all of Root's information network and secrets. He was about to dismiss the man when another agent showed up. "Danzo-sama," she said, bowing as she took out a piece of paper. "This report just in, sir."

The old man reached out with his good arm and took it carefully, reading it. It was an update on Ba Sing Se. So Shikamaru's strike force had been successful, but much of Ba Sing Se had been destroyed in the process. That he hadn't predicted. He would have to do something about this Azula. His eyebrow raised upon seeing that Tenzo had perished in the line of duty. That gave him mixed feelings on the issue. On the one hand, it pleased him to see that one of Tsunade's best ANBU members was gone. On the other, it was a shame to lose his Mokuton abilities. He had been preparing to find a way to harness that power, but now the opportunity was lost.

Or was it? Shikamaru's force had possession of the body and Root members were in both the Second and Fifth Units alongside him, as they were in the others. This would have to be handled delicately.

He finished reading the report. "Hyou. I have a mission for you."

The Jonin nodded as Danzo explained the nature of his new assignment and the dual objectives. The man departed immediately, leaving the man alone before he resumed his journey home.

He would see that this war accomplished all his goals. The first of which was removing that woman from office and seeing himself seated in the chair of Hokage. The second was the elimination of all his enemies, including Orochimaru and that of the Akatsuki.

And his ultimate goal: Becoming Shogun. A combination of both the Daimyo and the Hokage into one position of pure power for the Fire Country. With that power he would completely remodel Konohagakure and the Fire Country into his own image, establishing a new power that none would dare to challenge. And if any were foolish enough, he would _crush _them.

Any allied countries would be wise to follow him. He had no interest in seeking to claim any other lands beside Fire. Even the other world mattered little to him other than how he could exploit it for Fire. All that mattered to him was the Fire Country.

That was his home.

He would see that the Fire Country was made strong. So strong that it would never fall. It wouldn't even falter. No one would dare to challenge it, all would want to be in its good graces. All would try to make themselves useful for Fire.

And he would be the hand that led this power to a new era of prosperity for the Fire Country and Konohagakure.

All for the good of Konoha.

All for the good of the Fire Country.

**Earth Kingdom**

Sakura just looked at Sasuke, still not believing her ears. The Uchiha just looked at her for a moment. "What are you waiting for? You want to go, _go_."

The pink-haired girl just looked at him, then shot a look at the village. Her eyes locked on the sight and she found herself unwilling to move, unable to look away from the slaughter.

"Well?" Sakura felt her heart jump into her throat. Sasuke's voice was _very close. _Looking out the corner of her eye, he saw that his face was right next to her own, his mouth just centimeters from her ear, his breath on her neck. "Go. Or stay. Choose."

Sakura's gaze settled on the sight when a thought came to her. "What happens... if I fail...?"

The young man's answer was instant. "Whatever happens with them," he said, gesturing toward the village residents. "Death or capture."

Her eyes flew open as she turned around to look at him, their faces so close. "You're seriously just going to let me get _killed_ if I do this?"

"Or captured," Sasuke repeated.

"What happened to your 'self journey' you wanted to drag me on?"

"The 'journey' is what we come across," Sasuke told her. "No destination, no course. Just the journey. If that's your role, I will accept it."

Silence hung in the air as she looked over her shoulder once again at the sight. If she was going to make a move, she had to move _now. "_Fine."

That's when she swung a punch right at Sasuke's face, who calmly caught it.

"That would be preferable than staying with your sorry ass," Sakura told him as she pulled her hand back and turned around. "See you in hell."

Before another word could be uttered, she jumped from the tree branch and landed on the ground, crouching to cushion the fall as she moved to the nearest bush, peeking through it.

There were four areas that were still fighting. Two in the western square of the village, one in the south and one in the north. It would be over in a few minutes. The rest of the villages – those that were alive – were all gathered just outside the village.

What should she do? Should she try and free those captured, or help those fighting? If she helped those fighting, that would be a greater chance for them to drive the bandits out of the village. Or if she moved to help the villagers, she could probably ensure their escape into the woods... at the cost of the remaining defenders.

She didn't like that idea too much. She took a step forward... before her right foot sank into the the dirt a little. That little act made her realize the one thing she overlooked. Staring down, she kicked her foot against the ground.

Nothing happened.

She couldn't fight. Not with bending, ninjutsu, genjutsu or even strength. The plan of rallying the defenders and driving the bandits away only worked if she could fight at her max. All she had was her taijutsu. She had known that... just the reality of it hadn't really sunk in until now.

If she went to fight the way she was... she probably wouldn't be coming back. Especially if the "great mighty Uchiha-sama" was just interested in watching. Probably wouldn't blink twice if she fell here.

She looked at the frightened people huddled as one of the defending groups fell. If her one life could save even a dozen of them, wouldn't that be worth something? There were worse ways to die... and deaths to have no meaning.

"I guess that's my only option. To stand with the others and try and draw enough bandits over to us so that the others can escape," Sakura said to herself quietly. So be it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to firm her resolve. When she opened her eyes, she had a determined look on her face as she began making her way to the group fighting at the south. She would start with them.

She carefully crouched as she walked over to the village, then started jogging slowly towards the village outskirts, pressing herself against a ruined house. She peeked around the corner as she clenched her fist.

That's when a fire blast struck down right near her.

She gave a small scream in surprise as many heads jerked her in direction. She'd been spotted. She cursed that stray fire blast as she looked at the blast area, before realizing something.

The angle of the blast came from an _upward _strike.

She couldn't believe that as she looked in the direction of the strike... the high trees.

_Sasuke... you... asshole! You gave away my position! Why!? s_he demanded to herself as many of the attackers came right at her, forming a half circle around her as she pressed her back to the wall. Trapped!

There were at least three dozen, all pointing weapons and fists at her. One rode an ostrich-horse up, a perverted smirk on his face. "This one's got a nice set of legs on her," he said as the others all chuckled at that. "I wonder how the rest of her looks."

"Too good for the likes of you."

"Got a sharp tongue on her, too. I like that. Take her."

Two men walked over to her, their spears held loosely in their hands. Clearly, they weren't expecting her to be any threat. Sakura let them think that as she stood her ground, playing weak as they walked up to her.

Then she struck, slamming both of her fists into their throats as hard as she could. They both gagged as they clutched their throats and dropped their weapons. She raised her right leg and kicked the nearest man in the head as he crashed into his partner, both of them falling to the ground in a heap.

The mood of the men changed at once as many swarmed towards Sakura. One rode an Ostrich-horse towards her, a spear leveled at her head. She dodged it easily, then grabbed it. Shifting her stance, she swung the spear around as the man went flying through the air, screaming as he landed in the burning home. Sakura heaved the spear backwards, jamming the butt of the weapon into the stomach of another, then whacking him across the face.

Two men came at her as they thrust their feet across the ground, several rocks bursting from the ground towards her. Sakura spun the spear around, blocking some, but one rock broke the spear while the rest pummeled her across the chest and face as she fell to the ground.

_I could have blocked that easily if I could bend, _she thought miserably.

Another bandit came over her with a mace aimed at her head. She rolled out of the way, missing it by inches as she sweep-kicked his legs, knocking him to the ground before swinging her other foot down onto his face, knocking him out. She quickly got up, just missing another rock barrage as she picked up the mace and hurled it at the first earthbender, striking him hard in the chest.

The other earthbender snarled in rage as four others came at her at once. The man slammed his foot on the ground, making Sakura lose her balance as the first man hit her across the face with a club. Blood trickled down her face from the blow as she tried to regain her footing before two of the men grabbed her arms and held her up while the fourth one hit her stomach several times.

She gave a gasp as the man reared his fist back again. This time she raised her leg, the bottom of her foot blocking the punch. She then kicked upward with the other one, hitting the man in the face, snapping his head back as the momentum forced her upward, slipping out of the two men's grasps and backflipping behind the two. She quickly smacked their heads together before rear-kicking the man with the club. She then grabbed it and threw it at the second Earthbender, who dodged... only to have a rock to hit him in the face soon afterwards.

"Reduced to throwing rocks," she uttered as she elbowed a man coming up on her. _I really have hit rock bottom. _She grabbed the bandit as she threw him at another man, who threw out his arms... and water from his back surged forward, catching his comrade.

Sakura was stunned. A waterbender!?

The man's arms circled around as two thick water whips came right at the Leaf kunoichi, striking rapidly at her. Sakura crossed her arms in an attempt to block as the water cut her arms. What was a waterbender doing with these people?

That's when one of the whips broke through her defense, slapping her across the face. Before the waterbender could act further, Sakura grabbed the waterwhips, giving a yell as she yanked as hard as she could. The man gave a yell of surprise as he went flying right towards the girl and right into Sakura's fist... only for her to get hit with a solid fire blast right in her back.

Sakura gave a scream of pain as her shirt now had a foot-wide hole in it, revealing burnt red skin. A second later, the firebender, the one that had spoken, was behind her, slamming the back of his sword against her neck.

Sakura stood still for a moment before collapsing on the ground, breathing out hard. An Earthbender and a waterbender working together she could understand, but a firebender as well? What was with this group!?

"Got her, Panio," a man said as he and another bent down and picked her up by the arms, holding her up for the man. Two others flanked the firebender as he looked down, a certain gleam in his eye. "A nice catch indeed." His hand reached out and got a full grasp on Sakura's breasts. "I'm going to have fun with - "

Sakura spat in his eye before he could finish.

The man became as motionless as a statue before slowly bringing his hand up and wiping his eye, a dark look now on his face. "You think that's funny, bitch?" he growled dangerously, slapping her across the face. Sakura didn't so much as blink. "I changed my mind," Panio said, taking a few steps back as fire gathered around his fists. "Hold her."

Sakura felt the men tighten their grips as one grabbed her hair and bent her head back so she was looking directly at the fire as it blasted right towards her...

Only for someone to appear right in front of her from out of nowhere. The figure held up their right hand as the fire hit their palm, splitting it and sending it in two directions, striking each man in the face as they dropped the girl, hollering with pain. Sakura, meanwhile, was frozen in surprise at who it was that just saved her.

"Sa-sasuke..."

She then began to fall, only for Sasuke's other arm to catch her.

"Now you're dead," he stated.

"What?" Sakura asked as Panio and others looked forward.

"Who are you, brat? Answer quickly while you're still breathing."

"Back off. The girl is mine," Sasuke said simply.

"I'm sure she would make a lovely wife for you... in the grave. If you get lost now, maybe I won't kill you with her."

Sakura just breathed out, no longer sure what Sasuke would say. But he was here, so maybe... "You have to..."

Sasuke quickly slammed a fist into her stomach before she could finish. She gave a surprised gasp before losing consciousness as Sasuke threw her over his shoulder. "I'll be leaving now," the Uchiha declared as he started walking.

"Like hell you will," Panio said as he and several others charged at him.

Sasuke just looked at them uninterestedly as he raised his right hand, lightning crackling within it.

Blood filled the air anew.

**Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se, Royal Palace**

Naruto and the others were sitting in a large guest room that had been provided for their group. Katara and Hinata were playing some checker-like game in the corner with Momo on Hinata's shoulder. Toph was bouncing a small rock off her foot to the wall like it was a ball. Sokka was sitting on the floor sharpening and polishing his weapons. Aang was just huddled in a corner, having not said a word since Katara and Naruto brought him back. Suki was just sitting in a chair, opening and closing a fan absentmindedly.

You'd find more cheer in a graveyard.

Kakashi and Kurenai were with the other Leaf Ninja. Naruto would have gone along with them, but he had been told to stay where he was. So he just spent his time reading some scrolls he carried, often finding himself reading the same passage over and over.

No one knew what to say. No one knew what they were supposed to do, not with all the destruction of the city still very apparent in their minds.

That's when the door finally opened as Shikamaru walked in. "Hi all."

"Hey, Shikamaru," Naruto said flat-toned as they all looked at the Nara. Quick introductions were made for Aang, Katara and Shikamaru. The young genius looked at Aang for a moment, then offered his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Aang looked at the hand before slowly taking it and shaking.

"I heard about what happened to you," Shikamaru said as they shook. "All of it."

The Avatar looked ready to be anywhere else right now.

"I know what you're going through. I know what it's like to fail. My first command to rescue a comrade ended in the worst way possible. I've failed over missions before, some more costly than others. I almost lost my own sensei not too long ago. There wasn't anything I could do to help him. All I could do was watch him get stabbed again and again and in the end, someone else saved him. Not me."

The boy took this in for a moment, then looked the young Nara in the eye. "So what are you saying?"

Shikamaru put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't dwell on what you did wrong or failed to do. Learn from it. You've also made a big difference to those you've helped." He gestured at the others all of them looking at the two by now. "Never forget that fact. Also, if you stop now, you won't be able to prevent future sufferings."

"But what if I fail? What if I'm not good enough?" Aang asked.

Shikamaru gave a small shrug. "What if you succeed? What if you're too good? What if you beat the Fire Lord with your pinky? You won't know until you try. At least you're in the game and doing your part."

Aang considered, remembering that Katara had told him much of the same thing during that storm.

"_You're being too hard on yourself. Even if you did run away, I think it was meant to be. If you had stayed, you would have been killed along with all the other airbenders._

_I know it's meant to be this way. The world needs you now. You give people hope."_

At that memory, he felt strength coming into him again as he gave a nod. "I won't forget those that paid the price."

"Nor should you," Naruto said unexpectedly. "We can't forget."

There was a murmur of agreement and heads bobbing until Shikamaru spoke once more. "Alright, time for the reason why I'm here. As you all know, the Fire Nation army is heading to Ba Sing Se. It'll be here in the morning. I'm here to find out if you all want to help defend or not."

"Of course!" Sokka said, looking a bit shocked. "Why wouldn't we want to help? If you think - "

The young man held up his hand apologetically. "No. That's not what I mean. What I mean is... are you sure you're up to it?"

They all looked at him confused.

"You all saw what happened here in Ba Sing Se. That's what's the battle is going to be like. Lots of fighting. Lots of death. It's not going to be pleasant. It never is. And if any of you don't want to participate, we'll understand."

"Don't we have to?" Hinata asked. "As Konoha shinobi..."

Shikamaru cut her off. "That's the thing." He pointed to the Aang, Katara, Suki, Toph and Sokka. "They aren't Konoha shinobi, so we have no jurisdiction over them. We can't force them into combat if they are unwilling or can't handle it. Same with you two."

"With us?" Naruto demanded.

"You haven't been involved in the war effort," Shikamaru said gently. "You're not under any command or been declared suitable for combat. And so far, no orders have come for either of you. Since you're not under any command, yes, you two aren't obligated. I am. As are the other friends from the village and all those fighting.

"So basically what I'm asking is are any of you willing to fight? And before you say 'yes', seriously think about it. If you don't think you can handle the danger, then don't go. No one will hold it against you. But if you do think you're capable, then we'll welcome your help. Think carefully." He turned and headed for the door. "You have one hour to think on it."

"That won't be necessary," Naruto spoke up, causing Shikamaru to stop in his tracks. "I'm going. I can't ignore this. I can't just sit on the sidelines knowing my friends and allies are putting their lives on the line. I can handle it, Shikamaru."

Suki stepped forward. "I've been trained as a Kiyoshi warrior at my home. I've been drilled in the art of battle and war since I was 8. I knew the dangers then and I understand them now. I'm in."

Sokka took out his machete and held it up. "I've already taken life and the massacre took away any lingering doubts of warfare. Ready and willing, Captain!" Shikamaru's face went slightly red at that, causing him to give a nervous laugh at the mention of 'captain'.

Toph slammed a fist into her hand. "I'm coming. I intend to help in this war and I'm not going to turn tail now. The best way to deal with the realities of war is to face them head on, not cower in a corner."

Katara gave a nod of the head. "I'm ready to help as well." She remembered Kakashi's words during the massacre then quickly added "Whatever you need me to do: fight, heal or even scout, I'll do it." _And learn to keep focused. _

"I'm... coming too," Aang said a bit hesitantly. He airbended his staff into his hands and twirled it. "I'll make sure to protect everyone."

"... I'll stay," Hinata said.

Everyone looked at her. The Hyuuga girl's gaze just lowered as she focused on her feet not meeting anyone's eyes. "... I'm not ready. I can still remember the sight of Ba Sing Se burning... people dying... all at once..." A small tear trickled down her cheek.

Naruto and the others were about to say something when Shikamaru held up a hand. He walked slowly to the girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. It takes real strength of character to admit your faults."

The blond nodded. "You're not weak! If you're not ready, that's okay! You'll just kick butt next time." He gave that foxy grin of his. "Think you can have a big victory dinner ready after we kick the Fire Nation's ass all the way back to the sea?"

At that, Hinata gave a smile as she wiped her face. "Yes. I can do that. I'll have ten different types of ramen waiting."

Naruto began drooling with a dreamy look on his face.

"Alright, lover boy, got to get the victory first," Shikamaru said as he grabbed Naruto by the back collar of his jacket and pulled him away. The others gave a friendly wave as well as they followed the two the door closely behind them, leaving the Hyuuga alone.

Hinata waited for a few moments, then activated her Byakugan. Once she confirmed they were well on their way, she turned around and walked to the nearest bed. She fell on it, burying her face into the pillow as she began crying.

**Next morning. 7:50 am. Outskirts of Ba Sing Se.**

The Fire Nation army marched forward in a mechanical manner. Rows upon rows of men and women walked towards the Earth Kingdom capital, each with a calm, serious look about each of their faces, yet underneath it all, each and every one was feeling eager and ecstatic.

The mighty Ba Sing Se. Greatest stronghold of the Earth Kingdom. What many felt was the last true obstacle in the way of victory. For a hundred years it had stood defiant against the Fire Nation. Leading the defense, in the Fire Nation's way at every turn. Ba Sing Se wasn't a thorn in the Fire Lord's side. It was an outright _spear. _

Like a rock that the waves crashed against, Ba Sing Se had stood firm for the entire war.

Until now. While the rock may withstand wave after wave, each wave chips a little more of the rock with each time, making it weaker and weaker until it ultimately collapses.

And Princess Azula's wave was the one that finally made Ba Sing Se collapse.

The force consisted of 61,400 troops. The first 60,000 were comprised of equal portions of normal foot soldiers and benders. They marched foremost in straight lines that showed discipline and resolve. Behind them came a cavalry unit of Komodo Rhinos, four hundred strong. Bringing up the rear was a thousand Fire Nation tanks.

They had been marching hard since leaving Omashu, but not so hard that they were weary or tired. And seeing the walled city coming up in the distance, they found themselves filled with new energy. All the more so when they saw one section of the wall was open. Several groups of Fire Nation troops gave a cheer at seeing the opening.

At the Outer Wall, Earth Kingdom Royal Guards and Konoha shinobi were pressing themselves against the wall, waiting. On top of the wall, more troops crouched on their stomachs. All keeping out of sight. All waiting for the Fire Nation to come into the trap.

The enemy was one kilometer away. 500 meters. 200. 100.

At that, the signal was given. Shinobi and Earth Kingdom soldiers leaped into the opening, seven thousand strong as they launched a massive barrage of earthbending and jutsu into the front line of the enemy. Caught completely by surprise, thousands of enemy soldiers were killed in the vicious onslaught before anyone could react. As fear and panic rushed through the ranks, the commanders quickly tried to assemble order and regroup.

That's when a thousand men - 900 Earthbenders and a hundred shinobi – emerged from the ground on either side of the Fire Nation ranks; this time at the rear of the foot soldiers and the lined calvary. Earth, Wind and Water attacks struck the rear portion of soldiers and crashed into the rhinos. The animals gave a roar as they all began crashing into each other, their riders flung into the air to later be trampled to death by their own mounts.

On top of the wall, Earthbenders jumped to their feet as they began hurling down boulders at the enemy, aiming for the rear tanks as they were now perfectly within range. Boulders rained down on the vehicles, flattening dozens within moments. The tanks began blasting fire up at the incoming projectiles in response, their fire blasts knocking boulders off course as they landed harmlessly off to the sides. That's when they noticed the latest barrage had blond figures standing on them, all of them jumping from their rock mounts as they began falling downward towards the Fire Nation troops, hundreds of them. As one, they all airbended powerful air bursts at the troops, knocking many of them flat out as well as kicking up dirt and dust into the air. The firebenders and archers shot into the air, destroying several of the Narutos as they poofed out of existence, while the rest crash-landed right on top of the Fire Nation's heads. All were destroyed on impact, exploding into white smoke that, combined with the dust already in the air, made a very effective smokescreen on the entire Fire Nation force.

As one, the defenders of Ba Sing Se all charged forth from the wall while the men on either side stormed in as well, pinching the enemy from three sides into a bloody melee.

This lasted for about a minute before numerous firebenders bended all at once, the force of their fire blowing away the smokescreen. Like the trained professionals they were, the Fire Nation began counterattacking with deadly precision as injured troops were moved into the middle, with fresh ones taking their place. While they had taken heavy losses, the fact of the matter was that the army was simply too large for the defenders to take on directly, a full 30,000 still uninjured and ready to fight.

And the defenders knew this. Seeing their smokescreen was gone, a horn sounded behind the wall. At the sound, Earth Kingdom soldiers and the Leaf shinobi all turned around and hightailed it back to the wall as fast as they could. The Fire Nation troops noticed this and gave a cry of triumph as they chased in pursuit. They fired many volleys of fire blasts into the retreating enemy flanks, many burning up in seconds.

"Come on! Come on! Come on!" several Earthbenders shouted at their fellows as they ran through the opening of the wall. The Fire Nation troops were so close...

Finally, the last one ran through as ten Earthbenders jumped into the middle and threw their arms up. Earth erupted from the ground, trying to close the breach until monstrous fire blasts hit the earth, shattering it completely as the men were blown back.

"Fall back!" a Captain yelled as the defenders, both on the ground and up on the wall, started fleeing anew. "Retreat to the Inner Wall!"

"Get them! Don't let them get away!" a Fire Nation commander yelled, clearly intending to pay these bastards back tenfold as they continued the charge, running through the gap in the wall.

And the final trap.

The inner portion of the Outer Wall was covered in explosive notes. As soon as the Fire Nation troops began running through, several shinobi made the Tiger Seal and set them off.

The paper bombs all went off at once in a chained effect, each blast building off the previous. Huge amounts of debris rained down on the Fire Nation soldiers en masse as many of them screamed, realizing what was happening. Desperately, they tried to run, but it was all in vain. Chunks of the mighty great wall crushed almost all of them immediately.

That was enough. The remaining Fire Nation troops turned around and fled the way they came. Those that had been on the inside of the wall unburied quickly surrendered to the defending force.

In the end, barely a thousand of the invading troops managed to retreat from the Earth Kingdom Capital. All others were either dead or captured.

Victory for Ba Sing Se. And a new beginning.

**Location Unknown. Three hours later.**

Orochimaru, the Raikage, and the Tsuchikage met in council. They were all seated in a dark room filled with maps around a circular table in the middle with each man facing each other. A symbol of equality, or as much equality as these three men pretended to have for one another.

The Raikage was a large towering man with defined muscles. He wore the typical Kage robe, leaving his stomach bare. On his arms were two sizeable gold gauntlets, and around his waist a gold belt with a lion's face.

The Tsuchikage was far older than the Cloud Kage, and smaller to boot. He had a triangular beard and a mustache with angular corners. He wore a four piece green cape with a black battle suit underneath.

"I trust you both heard the news of Ba Sing Se?" Orochimaru asked the other two Kages. News of the failed attempt at Ba Sing Se had reached their ears only an hour ago.

"Yes..." the Raikage said. "We lost a crucial military stronghold. Of the 61,000 troops sent, only a thousand returned. 56,000 dead and the rest captured. Best we can guess is that the enemy suffered only three hundred losses out of their ten thousand, if that."

"With the massacre," the Tsuchikage, Onoki of the Two Scales, said, giving a small shake at the word, "earlier, it balances out." He couldn't believe the Fire Nation Princess had taken such a drastic action. It both terrified and impressed him. He quickly spoke again. "We must take measures to reinforce Omashu at once." He placed his finger on a map and gestured toward several places to draw troops from.

"All within due time," Orochimaru spoke. "But first we have something else to do."

"What then?" the Tsuchikage asked.

Orochimaru grinned. "We have an ally in enemy lines, that's what. Someone in Konoha has joined our side."

The two looked at him. "Since when?" they both asked.

_Simpletons,_ Orochimaru thought silently. Sometimes he thought it would be better if he just killed them and replaced them. But now was not the time to do so. The war was still young and he didn't want any... unnecessary... complications

"I cannot reveal the name," the Snake Sannin replied. "Nor should I. I would rather our new agent continue to remain anonymous, rather than risk exposure. Suffice to say, the intelligence this man has provided is not only legit, but fruitful." He reached inside one of his pouches and took out two pieces of paper. The information their previous agent had provided.

Both Kage took the paper and after a glance at it, their mouths dropped at the sheer amount of information provided on it. Orochimaru grinned at that. "We can hit Konoha and its allies even harder now with this information. The time has come to stop waging our guerrilla campaign, and start waging full strikes against the Leaf and its allies."

"Where do we strike, then?" the Tsuchikage asked.

"Bird. Waterfall." Orochimaru listed off a few more targets.

The Raikage frowned. "We do not have the numbers to support this many campaigns. You know this. The Leaf have Sand, Mist, River, Grass, Waterfall, Bird, Bear, Heat, and Wave countries with them. We only have Dry and Marsh countries with us. That alone makes us outnumbered five to one, even with the Fire Nation. Soon, they will have the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes backing them up as well. This is why we have been waging the guerrilla tactics so far. We do not have the forces to confront them all!"

"Yes, you are indeed correct that Konoha has more nations allied with them than we do. However, I am happy to say that the odds will no longer be in their favor," Orochimaru told him.

The Raikage looked doubtful. "How can you be so sure of that, Orochimaru? Do you mean you have succeeded in making Iron and the other neutral nations join our side?"

The Sound Leader shook his head. "No, but we won't need them. Let's just say that the tide is about to turn in our favor," Orochimaru hinted. "And that Konoha will find themselves... at odds end."

The two other Kages looked at each other. "And what of your promise?" the Raikage asked. "I demanded a Hyuuga as compensation. Specifically, the heiress."

"You will receive her," Orochimaru said with a grin. "She had eluded my spy network for a time, but if the loss of Ba Sing Se offered any opportunities, it's that she showed up there. We now know where she is, as well as several other key figures. Namely, the Avatar and Kyuubi Jinchuuriki." He looked at the Tsuchikage. He wanted the Kyuubi, to make up for the two lost by Akatsuki.

"So the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and the Avatar are with her... it won't be easy to take her, then," the Raikage said.

"Leave that to me," Orochimaru said. "In the meantime, you both should call on your forces to prepare for the battle to come... and new allies."

"Very well, Orochimaru," both Kages said.

With that, Orochimaru informed them both of what he intended to next with his own plans and this new information provided. The Hyuuga Hieress and Kyuubi Jinchuuriki were the prices to pay for their cooperation. And if what he heard was true about the two of them, it certainly made the situation ironic: they finally find each other, only to be the most sought after by their enemies.

He grinned at the irony.

In the back of his mind, he knew he had to track down his wayward apprentice. What little he had heard was that he had escaped custody of Leaf and had apparently taken Tsunade's apprentice with him. A specialized team would be needed to apprehend Sasuke. Arrogant though he may be, he was still deadly skilled.

Orochimaru continued to play with possibilities for such a team as he went on discussing their next move. A move that would _devastate _Konoha and its allies.

**Konoha. Same time.**

"... and so I observed Daikoku all last night, early this morning and during the early Academy hours," Ibiki said, retelling all of what he had achieved the night before in the search for the traitor. The Academy was on lunch break right now. "So far I haven't detected anything unusual or suspicious about him, but I'm not ready to cross him off the list yet."

Tsunade gave a nod as Shizune stepped forward, handing her several papers. "I've gone through last week's guard and sentry reports. So far, nothing stands out to indicate an infiltrator or spy, but it's entirely possible that any such person could have arrived weeks in advance. Maybe even months."

"So, nothing," Tsunade said, breathing out. "Alright, keep at it. Ibiki. Leave Daikoku alone for now. Concentrate on the others. Shizune, I want you to - "

She didn't get a chance to finish as there was a knock at the door. Immediately, all three of them stopped talking. "Enter."

The door opened to reveal Raiden. Though his face and body were hidden by a mask and a thick white cloak, she could tell from his movements that he was shaken a little. He had found something.

"Tsunade-sama," he said simply as a way of greeting with a slight nod to Shizune and Ibiki. "I've tracked down the source of the misinformation."

All three gave them their full attention. Already? That was fast. Faster than Tsunade expected.

"I went to the Intelligence Division," Raiden said. "And discreetly found out who provided the intelligence of Ba Sing Se. The information came from a _private _intelligence network. A personal one, not part of Konoha's official network."

Tsunade should have seen this coming. Raiden wasn't done though. "I quickly discovered the man's location... and his superior. Given the nature of this... assignment, it would seem likely to me that the head of such a private network would also be in on this as all agents would be incredibly loyal to the head. Not very likely to act on their own."

The Hokage nodded. "Of course." So it was the old bastard after all. That really shouldn't surprise her. Now all she had to do was...

"... the name of the man who provided the information is Kuro. He is in the personal spy network belonging to Jiraiya-sama."

* * *

A/N: Another chapter done. And things are getting a move on. The Battle for Ba Sing Se is over with a big Leaf Alliance victory, but Orochimaru already has something else planned. Something big. A lead is also uncovered to the possible identify of the traitor... and it's connected to Jiraiya!

We also get a peek inside Danzo's head and what he's aiming for as well as how Rin got involved with Root. We also get that Sasuke and Sakura find out the bandits attacking are comprised of all three Bending Nations! What's up with that?! I hope that part came out okay. Parts of it may had been predictable and a bit cliche, but sometimes cliche works.

Please read and review.

_I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon Studios respectively. Also, Bending the Jutsu belongs to Son Kenshin. Thanks to Paintball-Gamer for betaing!_


	8. A New Start

Chapter 8: A New Start

**Konohagakure, Hokage Tower.**

Tsunade just stared in disbelief at what Raiden had just said. The stunned silenced was mirrored by Shizune and even Ibiki, something the Hokage couldn't recall ever happening with the interrogator.

"Jiraiya?" Shizune said, recovering first.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Ibiki demanded as he regained his composure.

Raiden gave a nod. "I traced the information provided and did a complete check on the provider. There is no doubt it's the genuine article in employ to Jiraiya-sama."

Tsunade sat back in her chair trying to absorb all this. Jiraiya, a traitor? It seemed completely ludicrous, and to betray them to _Orochimaru _of all people? The very person he had left in pursuit of for all those years and actively worked against him? No one in their right mind could believe Jiraiya would suddenly switch sides for Orochimaru…

She paused in mid-thought. Perhaps she was looking at this from the wrong angle. What if Orochimaru was exploiting Jiraiya? The snake would know his former teammate's character just as she did. Including his tendency to womanize. Orochimaru would be one of the few people that would be capable of drugging Jiraiya and getting him to spill secrets; especially during one of his 'research' ventures.

_That _seemed like an answer to all of this.

But even if that was the case, it still meant the same thing: Jiraiya was a security risk, and had to be neutralized.

"Shizune, where is Jiraiya now?" Tsunade asked in an uncharacteristically hard voice.

"He should still be looking into Akatsuki," her first apprentice answered.

"I want to be notified the second he gets back. Also, any information provided with his spy network goes directly to Ibiki." She shot a look at the man. "You'll be in charge of handling the information however you see fit."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Ibiki said.

Tsunade looked at the ANBU Captain. "Raiden."

"Yes ma'am."

"Assemble two ANBU units. Make sure they are capable of bringing down Jiraiya." Tsunade said, folding her hands.

It was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. Even though he was wearing a white mask and cloak, it was apparent he was shaken by the command. "Yes ma'am." He repeated as he left.

This had to be handled carefully. If Jiraiya was being exploited by Orochimaru in order to leak information, then she needed to be ready to deal with him. For Jiraiya's benefit as much as securing the village.

Tsunade just prayed to any god that would listen that she would not need to give that order.

**Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se**

Naruto and the others were waiting in Kuei's palace, still trying to deal with Yamato's death and all the lives lost by Azula's madness. He wanted nothing more than to go after Sasuke bastard and Sakura, but Kakashi had firmly told him no until orders came. Forced to stay in the room again, they all started swapping stories of their past exploits. Naruto told of his early missions and the Chunin Exams, while Hinata talked about missions she went on after Naruto had left Konoha with Jiraiya. Aang talked about the Air Temples, while Sokka and Katara both shared their early advantages when they were just a trio. Suki spoke of her training as a Kyoshi Warrior and Toph bragged about her victories in the various Earthbending tournaments she had participated in.

As they talked, they were all lounging around comfortably, except Aang who was getting a healing session by Katara since he hadn't completely healed from Azula's lightning bolt yet.

After Toph got through muttering about Aang breaking her perfect record, her head jerked up. "He's back." On cue, Kakashi walked into the room.

"So do we go out and get Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan or what?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi didn't answer right away. "No. There's no 'we', I'm afraid, Naruto."

"W-What? We're just going to leave Sakura with the teme? She may be dead!"

"No." Kakashi replied, his voice low, warning Naruto not to shout. "I mean that none of you are going. Looking after Aang is more important right now, especially with Azula knowing he survived. The Fire Nation will be coming after him while he's weak, hoping to finish him for good this time. In addition, Kurenai and I are being pulled from the group."

The group blinked in surprise. "Why are you being pulled from the group, Kakashi-sensei?" Katara asked.

"Kurenai is being redeployed to the front lines." Kakashi said, looking down at the waterbender, he added. "So Katara, Hinata, if there's anything you need to learn from Kurenai, settle it now." Looking back at the group, he continued. "I have my own assignment. What you need to be aware of right now is that without us, the safety of Aang rests with the rest of you solely. You best be prepared for anything. Understand?"

Naruto nodded and breathed out.

"As for Sakura, Tsunade-sama has come to the decision to send one elite shinobi after them. She feels she can't afford to send more right now and if Sakura is still alive, the situation needs to be handled delicately." Kakashi went on.

"...at least she's not being forgotten about...who is being sent?"

Kakashi looked Naruto directly in the eye. "I am."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Then you'll get her back for sure and you'll beat up Sasuke..."

"I've been ordered to kill Sasuke if he resists, Naruto." Kakashi interrupted.

Naruto was silent at that, not sure how to respond

"If it's a choice between Sasuke's life or Sakura's, it's going to be Sakura every time. I can't promise you I'll bring him back alive, Naruto." Kakashi said. "Sakura's situation has changed things considerably. It's no longer a case of just bringing Sasuke back; he has a hostage with him now. One wrong move and Sakura could end up dead. None of you are ready for that kind of mission, that's why I'm going and going alone. And if he really has killed her..." he let it hang.

Naruto nodded. "...I understand...Kakashi-sensei."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Sokka asked, looking at the Copy Ninja. "Sit here like good little kids twiddling our thumbs?"

Kakashi shook his head. "Not at all, we do have something in mind for your group. As you probably guessed, the invasion plan for the Fire Nation is now shot. Ba Sing Se is in no condition to mobilize such a large force, never mind the fact we only have two months to prepare. That's nowhere near enough time for Ba Sing Se to recover."

"So we have to abandon the plan? But the eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable. Can we really pass that up?" Suki asked.

"You make a valid point, but there's more to consider. The chain of command has been cut. The Council of Five was the supreme authority for the entire Earth Kingdom military and thanks to Azula, that's now compromised. The Generals told me that they had been interrogated. Surviving Dai Li have confirmed Azula had been studying military positions and battle plans, so we have to assume she still remembers it all. To make things worse, General How is still missing so the Council is both leaderless _and_ disorganized, we have to quickly rally and regroup the Earth Kingdom military or they're going to be overrun when the Fire Nation exploits Azula's knowledge."

The youths all nodded, conceding the point. "But you said we had a mission." Hinata reminded him.

"That's correct." Kakashi agreed. "As Suki pointed out, the eclipse will leave the Fire Nation vulnerable and a chance we cannot miss. So instead of a large invasion, we're going to use a small one. Hit the Fire Nation Capital itself and take out Ozai. The Earth Kingdom won't be able to supply the manpower, so we'll need to get it from other sources. You are to recruit anyone you can for the invasion. Old friends, previous allies, you have one month to try and recruit as many people as possible."

Naruto began rubbing his chin. "What if we run into Sasuke and…?"

Kakashi was already holding up a hand. "Naruto, you are authorized to go where ever you feel the need to go in order to accomplish your mission, so yes, if you do come across Sasuke or Sakura's trails by all means, act on it. But your first priority is the recruitments. Do NOT forget that. Sasuke is MY job."

They all nodded as the man looked directly at the blond. "Naruto, you are being placed in charge of the team." He took out a rolled up map and handed it to him. "This map had the rendezvous point you're to assemble the troops you find."

Naruto took the map. "I'm the leader? But...Hinata-chan's the Chunin and I..."

Kakashi held up his hand again. "The genin, but Tsunade feel's you're ready for some leadership given everything we've experienced here. She wants to evaluate your progress and determine just how much you have grown. So make her proud. Especially since you'll have three Chunin reporting to you, so don't blow this. It'll make her look back."

Naruto nodded, breathing out. "Me... team leader...wow..." He rubbed his chin as he smiled to himself when he realized what Kakashi said. "Wait… _three _Chunin?" He looked over his shoulder to the Avatar natives. "Did some of you get promoted behind my back?"

"Hmm… nope… don't think so…" Sokka said, looking himself over trying to see if a Konoha Headband had been sown on to his clothes somewhere.

"Should have been if you ask me," Toph said, crossing her arms.

"I haven't been." Katara added, while Aang just shook his head. That's when Momo jumped on Aang's head, flashing a headband around.

Several people's jaws hit the ground. "WHAT? MOMO GOT PROMOTED BEFORE I DID!" Naruto asked, completely stunned.

"That hardly seems fair," Suki said, not knowing what to make of this.

"So… when did Momo join the Konoha shinobi?" Aang asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion.

"Sorry…" They all looked to see Hinata red in the face as she walked over and took the headband from the lemur and tied it back around her neck. "It's mine. I let Momo play with it earlier."

Aang, Naruto, Suki and Sokka all crashed to the ground, twitting like smashed bugs.

Kakashi chuckled quietly under his breath. He was pleased they were starting to return to their old selves. He had partly been worried they might still be paralyzed from recent events. "No, Momo has not joined the Leaf Ninja. Today anyway." He turned to the door. "However, Tsunade is assigning replacements for both me and Kurenai to your little group."

At the proclamation, the door swung open again as the teenagers all looked on. Entering the room were two more youths. One had a green leotard with the chunin vest and an ugly bowl cut, and the other was a girl with buns in her hair and a large scroll on her back.

"Rock Lee, Tenten?"

"Naruto-kun!" Lee said happily, his voice a bit too loud.

Tenten just rolled her eyes, before offering a smile of her own. "It's been awhile."

The Jonin gave his smiling eye. "Best of luck to all of you." After everyone said their good byes to the man as he walked out.

Turning back to his two Leaf comrades, Naruto grinned as he shook both their hands. "How have you guys been?"

"Both wonderful and heavy hearted, for I have been separated from Gai-sensei! It has been most cruel that we cannot spread the Flames of Youth together for this entire world to see! And while many challenging and youthful opponents we have met on the frontlines have resulted in glorious bouts, the carnage left behind spoils the moment and leaves me sick to my stomach, making me unable to full enjoy the youth of my opponents and - !" Tenten cut him off before she went insane from another tirade.

"We've been fine, Naruto," Tenten said, summarizing it for him.

The others, save Hinata, just looked at the two newcomers. "These two are supposed to replace Kakashi and Kurenai?" Toph asked, clearly skeptic.

"Rock Lee is one of the best Taijutsu users in Konoha, and is incredible fast too. Tenten's Konoha's weapon mistress, she can hit a fly in between the wings with a senbon at 450 meters." Naruto told the blind earthbender.

"Nice." Sokka said, standing up and holding his boomerang high. "And I am Sokka! Warrior extraordinaire of the Southern Water Tribe, vanquisher of corrupted Earth Kingdom Generals and swamp creatures! Feel free to bask in my awesomeness for as long as you see fit!"

"So what can you do? Toss that boomerang and hit a target at 300 meters?"

"Yes as a matter of fact!" Sokka replied instantly.

Katara stepped forward. "Forgive me brother. He lives in his own imaginary world a bit too often. I'm Katara, Kurenai's newest apprentice. I'm an expert Waterbender and once I get more of this ninja stuff down, I'll be even better."

"I'm Aang, I'm the Avatar," Aang said with a bright smile.

"Toph. Best darn earthbender around and more than willing to prove it." She said happily

"And I'm Suki, Warrior of Kiyoshi."

Hinata looked past the two, fully expecting a third person to walk on in. "Where is Neji?"

"On the front lines." Lee answered.

"Tsunade-sama summoned us," Tenten went on. "And said we would be working with you guys until further notice. She didn't give us any details though."

"...well ...I'm team leader," Naruto said.

Both looked at him, surprised. "You?" The both asked. Not rudely, but not real politely either.

"Yeah... Tsunade...-sama... made me team leader."

"Really now?" Tenten said, looking him over. She didn't look pleased. Lee however gave him the 'good guy pose', with the thumbs up. "Excellent, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto grinned, scratching the back of his head. He was happy Lee was supportive, but he could see in Tenten's eyes she wasn't happy. Hoping to get out of dangerous waters, he spoke. "Before you guys showed up, we were discussing the next move. We've been ordered to go look for allies for the Invasion and can use some ideas on where to go."

After quickly bringing the two up to date, Katara spoke. "We've encountered a few people on our travels before we met up with Naruto and them. I think we can get some of them to help out. The Swampbenders were the ones I had in mind."

"THE SWAMPBENDERS!" Aang, Sokka, Toph and Suki all exclaimed; the first two in disbelief and the last two questioningly.

"Yes, the Swampbenders. They could be of a lot of help," Katara said.

"They're idea of a clothes are sticky leaves, they eat giant bugs and they play music that sounds like an ant funeral march!" Sokka said, quickly wiping a tear away. "IT STILL MAKES ME SAD AND THE WORST PART IS THAT IT'S SUPPOSED THE START OF SOME UNIVERSAL GREETING THAT INVOLVES ANIMAL TONGUES AND MUD BATHS!"

Several minutes of awkward silence followed as people's brains tried to process this statement… and failed rather miserably. "...has he been hitting the Cactus Juice again?" Naruto asked the Aang and Katara.

"... you _really_ don't want to know..." Aang whispered, shaking at a memory himself. "I wish he was…"

"Say what you will about their... um... culture..." Katara said, wondering if that was the right word to use. "But their waterbending is fantastic and not something the Fire Nation is used to. They would be a big help."

"Okay... good point," Aang said, while Sokka went on ranting about the Swampbender's ways.

"Have they ever experienced war before though? Or an actual battle?" Tenten asked.

"Um... I'm sure they have! At... some point. Mostly likely."

"It's worth a shot..." Lee acknowledged.

"And then we can start heading to the Northern Air Temple to get Teo and the others for the invasion," Aang said.

That snapped Sokka back to the present. The young water tribe warrior slapped Aang on the back. "Good call! I've been meaning to talk to the Mechanist for awhile now!"

"I know a few guys that would love a big brawl." Toph offered. "The fighters from Earth Rumble."

Aang, Katara and Sokka looked at her like she was crazy, while the others had question marks over their hands. "You're joking." The three said.

"Nope! They're some of the best Earthbenders around and it's about time they put their talents to fighting the Fire Nation instead of each other."

"They kidnapped us." Aang pointed out.

"And tried to cream us." Katara added.

"Yeah, and the others wouldn't give me their autographs! Talk about bad social images!" Sokka finished.

"And, they're stronger than most Earthbenders in the army." Toph argued back.

Suki looked thoughtful. "It's not like we have the army to use as it is…"

Seeing that things were getting rather heated between the five, Hinata whispered in Naruto's ear. "Now... would be the time for a leadership call."

Naruto nodded, and he breathed out, hoping he wouldn't regret this. "I agree with Toph... we need strong people to fight in the invasion."

The group looked at him, Aang and Katara clearly not believing what they heard, but offered no protest.

"Anymore suggestions on where to go to find other allies?"

They went on discussing possibilities as Naruto pulled out the map and spread it on the ground in front of the group. To Aang, Katara and Sokka's utter shock, the gathering point for the allies was General Fong's base, a revelation that made the three very unhappy about. Despite attempts to change it to anywhere else (they made several points about Kiyoshi Island) in the end, they couldn't dispute that Fong's base was the ideal position and a critical position for the Earth Kingdom military, making the gathering easier to conceal.

Suggestions for further ideas met with mixed results. Hakoda's band of warriors was unanimously agreed upon – a fact that made both Katara and Sokka rather happy – but talks about the Sandbenders and the Zhangs and Gan-Jin were met with discontent with Aang being uncharacteristically dark about the Sandbenders, saying they weren't _that _desperate for help, so all three of these groups were dropped. They agreed to track down Tyro and Haru again, but conceded they had no idea where to look, so they settled on keeping an eye out and hoping to run in to them again.

Omashu was highly debated too. Tenten couldn't believe the city had been surrendered without a fight, while Aang tried to push the point of 'waiting for the right moment to strike'. Sokka offered that even if Bumi wouldn't help, they should try to track down Captain Yung, the head of Bumi's army who would most likely still be in the area trying to recapture his home.

The one that caused the most debate was the Northern Water Tribe, based on the fact if they were even capable of offering support.

"Look," Suki said. "I get that they are spread thin, but they are the only real naval power we can call upon. The Earth Kingdom's is pathetic. One Waterbender would be worth a dozen of their ships."

"I don't disagree but look at their manpower," Sokka replied carefully. He held up a hand and started counting off fingers. "They were hit hard by the Fire Nation Invasion from a couple months ago." He held up another finger. "Pakku and others went to the South Pole." He held up a third finger. "And the Warriors they have already have supporting the Earth Kingdom..."

Rock Lee held up another finger. "I heard from Shikamaru-kun that they also intend to request aid from the Northern Water Tribute, so that would divide them up even further."

"So they'd be stretched really, _really _thin." Sokka continued. "They're too vulnerable as it is."

Toph snorted. "What, you don't think some Ninja will go and reinforce in it exchange for support? It's not like we're asking them everything and giving them nothing."

Tenten gave a nod as she looked at Katara. "You're the only waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe, so your home is out. Out of our group, we only have two and from what you said about the Swampbenders, there aren't more than a dozen of them. Fact is we need more help. Especially if we're talking about the numbers we already mentioned."

"You may know that, and I may know that," the water tribe girl replied, "But it's Chief Arnook who needs to get it. All your arguments won't do any good if he's not willing and I can't say I blame him."

Naruto just rubbed his head, trying to fight off the migraine. It was more the actual sides arguing than the debate itself that was giving him trouble. Every time he tried to offer an opinion, someone else jumped in and cut him off. The only one who looked like they were handling it worse was Aang, as his head was constantly bobbing back and forth between all the speakers, so much that eyes were swirling.

It also probably didn't help that Momo was using his head as a drum.

That's when he noticed Hinata was looking directly at him, with a gaze that he understood immediately.

So he put his fingers to his mouth and whistled, bringing all heads towards him. "Alright, there are good points on both sides. We need the water support, but don't know if they can give it. Let's just go and ask. Least we can do. Maybe we can get some Water Tribe vessels that our Waterbenders can use more effectively if nothing else."

They all looked at each other then slowly nodded in agreement. Naruto then looked at Tenten and Rock Lee. "Do you guys know Konoha's positions and if any will be able to offer aid?"

Tenten held up three fingers. "There are only three Units in this world: the Second, Fifth and Ninth. All three were supposed to be involved in liberating Ba Sing Se, but the Ninth was late. It should be here now. From what I hear, two Units will be pulling out to head back to our world and one will remain with the Earth Kingdom. We'll have to ask the Commander personally."

The warrior teen stretched. "Well, let's go take a look and see if that's decided. We can check with Kuei and the Council of Five… er_… Four_ and see what they can spare."

Hinata was already shaking her head. "But Kakashi-sensei already said…"

"I know what he said, but they still should have some aid they can offer. Sure not full armies, but maybe a few battalions or companies. That Terra Team was impressive." Sokka went on.

"Ty Lee took them out in five seconds," Katara replied in a deadpan voice.

"Well… yeah… there's that, _but _they DID take out the escorting tanks very easily and quickly." He then looked at the Hyuuga girl. "Plus we have Hinata, who did outmaneuver that crazy poker."

The girl nodded, conceding the point. "Alright," Naruto agreed rolling up the map. "Sounds like we have a plan, we'll head to the throne room and see what official support we can get, then head to Full Moon Bay and contact the warriors. We'll decide our next spot after."

With a nod of agreement, they all got up and started getting ready. Once they were properly composed, they headed out of the room and started walking towards to the Earth King's throne room. As they walked, Naruto quietly pulled Lee off to the side.

"Yes Naruto-kun?" The green beast asked.

"Hey… is Tenten mad at me?" Naruto asked, remember her look and tone when they found out he was in charge.

The other boy carefully considered his answer. "Maybe a little…" He said finally. "When we were being told that we were being reassigned, we got the impression she would be the Team Leader. It would have been her first command and I think she was looking forward to it."

"Oh…" Naruto said. What else could he say? He shot a look at the girl and was unsure of what to think of. It was nice to know that Tsunade had faith in him for command, but now he was wondering if there was some ulterior motive.

_Well… just have to ask later when we're on the road. _He promised himself, knowing now was not the time to start arguing who was in command.

As they walked to the throne room, they were greeted by several servants and guards several of which made a point to bow to Aang as they walked by.

"You know, I'm still getting used to walking in here." Katara said, passing the fourth group to do so. "I'm still expecting for guards to start attacking us and resisting the urge to run."

"I know what you mean," Sokka replied, looking a bit prideful at the memory. "That was one of our team's shining moments and it was well worth it."

"As well as a lot more fun!" Toph, of course.

"There was a certain amount of… flair… to it." Aang agreed, nodding to himself.

They arrived at the throne room a few minutes later. Inside they found Team 10, and a few other Shinobi scattered about. Kuei and one of his generals (Naruto couldn't tell which one) was greeting them and talking about things. "And lastly," They heard Shikamaru say as they entered. "Raido will be here momentarily to help coordinate our forces here, as well as representative and bodyguard to you, your highness."

"Shikamaru!" Naruto yelled.

The lazy young man looked over his head. "Hey Naruto." he said simply. He sounded like a kid who had to do an entire group project by himself

"We need people for the invasion; can we count on you and the rest of Team Ten being there for it?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Can't promise that. Depends on what Raido says when he gets..." he was cut off as the doors flung open, revealing Gai in all his glory. "HELLO EVERYONE AND NEWCOMERS TO THE WAY OF YOUTH!"

"GAI-SENSEI!" Rock Lee cheered.

_What's he doing here! _All the Leaf ninja thought at once as they turned away while Lee and Gai hugged.

"Guys... close your eyes... you don't want to see what happens next burned onto your retinas..." Naruto whispered, already closing his eyes.

Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Suki watched as a sunset appeared behind Rock Lee and Gai, them hugging and crying. Their jaws dropped.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

This went on for awhile…

"What's Gai doing here?" Choji complained, both hands covering his face. "The Second Unit is supposed to be stationed here, not the Ninth!"

"MY EYES!" Sokka yelled.

"Sucks to be you." Toph said, laughing. "There are a lot of advantages to being blind, as you can 'see.'"

"Shut up..." Sokka moaned, as Gai and Lee finally stopped. Gai then stood triumphantly in the center of the room. "Grand Earth King of the Glorious Earth Kingdom! I am most sad by the recent tragedy that has struck your fair city, with all of my youth I, Maito Gai, wish to express my sincerest sympathies as Konoha's Representative and Bodyguard!" At that, all the shinobi's, even Shikamaru's jaws hit the ground. NO WAY!

"Has... has Hell frozen over or something?" Naruto whimpered.

"No. But if he's the King's bodyguard..." Tenten said, shivering. "That means... there's going to be three of them. _Then_ hell will freeze over." She sounded ready to cry

"What did both worlds do to deserve that..."

"That's what I like to know..." Shikamaru complained, rubbing his eyes. "Where's Raido? This was supposed to be his job." Gai looked at him, smiling. "Raido, sadly, was badly injured during the fighting, so he's in no position to lead. Asuma and Kurenai are trying to spend some quality time before moving out. As such, I happily volunteered to take his place and our Units were switched. I will help the entire Earth Kingdom – "

_ENTIRE EARTH KINDGOM?_ All the shinobi repeated silently, horrified

" – learn the ways of Youth!"

"You mean there's going to be MORE than three?" Ino asked, appealed.

"Oh no oh no oh no... this is worse than a nightmare..." Tenten said.

Gai then began flinging things out of his pockets. Knives. Exploding tags (which went off when they hit something) an afro, scrolls and other misc. items

"Gai... stop that...!"

"No, no, I have it here... somewhere..." A bomb went towards Naruto, making him shriek and duck. "Ha! Found it!" He said, holding up a piece of paper. "This is the authorization papers for my replacement in the Ninth Unit!"

"... whose... your replacement...?"

Gai unrolled it and read it outloud. "By order of the Fifth Hokage and unanimous decision of the Council, the new leader of the Ninth Unit is Special Jonin Nara Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru's jaw lowered. "...you got to be kidding me..." _Mean's the promotion is permanent dammit._

"It's right here in black and blue!" Gai said.

"Don't you mean black and white?" Choji asked.

"Nope!"

Grudgingly, Shikamaru took the paper and looked at it himself. "...fine ...I have my orders..."

Suki whispered to Tenten. "What's that mean exactly?"

The Weapons Mistress answered back. "Konoha's strength is divided into ten fighting units, each having about two hundred shinobi each. Shikamaru was just placed in charge of one of them." Looking at the blond, she added. "Guess that means he's Naruto's direct superior here."

Naruto blinked.

The lazy genius was rubbing his head. "She hates me... that's all there is to it." Sighing, he looked at Naruto. "Let's talk."

The orange clothed boy nodded. They walked over to the war general talking with Kuei, who agreed to talk.

It was time for Discussion Round 2.

**Earth Kingdom, Unknown location**

Sakura's eyes slowly, her head throbbing. "Urg… where am I?"

"About ten kilometers southwest of the village."

The girl's head jerked to the side instinctively. Sasuke was sitting on a rock looking right at her. Looking down, she saw she had been played in a makeshift bed.

As well as the fact she was topless.

"Eight regular troops and two earthbenders," Sasuke listed off as Sakura immediately covering her chest, while calling Sasuke several choice words. Further examination revealed a bandage around her head, her back and stomach treated and bandages over her arms from where the waterbender had cut her with the water whips. "All in all," The Uchiha went on. "Not bad."

"WHERE'S MY SHIRT JACKASS!" Sakura demanded. He couldn't be so deprived he was ready for the deed when she was in this state…

The Uchiha just looked at her, not so much as raising an eyebrow. "You are concerned with your modesty more so than your injuries? I thought you were a medic."

It was like cold water had been splashed on her. Moving her hand carefully, she examined the bandages and the wounds, and after pulling down the blanket, revealed her lower garments were all still accounted for. _I guess I overreacted… seems all he was interested in was helping and not… anything else…_

"Sorry…" She managed to choke out. "My shirt?"

"It's in no shape for – " Sasuke began.

"Let _me _worry about that." She snapped. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "Please."

The young man looked at her for a moment before standing up and walking over to a tree branch where her shirt was hanging. Grabbing it, he tossed it to her. It was far more ragged now especially with the large hole in the back, but still holding together. And _not _wearing it wasn't an option for Mr. Prick over there. Slipping it on, she recalled what lead to this. "You broke my cover," Sakura accused. The earlier anger was coming back.

"Yes."

"_WHY?"_

"In order to evaluate your combat skills, I told you that." Sasuke answered.

"You were getting that!" Sakura retorted.

He was already shaking his head. "No, you were helping the citizens as opposed to fighting. I wanted to see what remained of your abilities, not a rescue mission."

"There's more than one way to fight!" Sakura said, throwing off her blanket and getting to her feet. "How I went about it was MY choice! You set me up to get killed!"

"I never intended to let you die."

Sakura just looked at him. "Liar! You flat out side you would let me go –…"

"- …with the understanding that if you failed, it would result in the same as the village, death or capture." Sasuke reminded her. "I deliberately waited until the last moment. If I had not intervened, that last fire blast would have ended your life. Thus you had fought to your death. Had it been anything less, I wouldn't have stepped in."

It took her a few minutes to understand this. "Wait… so you're saying… you intended to let me fight… until I got a 'death blow'. So then… what if that hadn't happened? What if they just intended to… hurt me?"

"I'd have let them."

"WHAT?"

"Need I remind you; _again, _that going was your choice. I told you the consequences and you accepted them. I didn't force you." Sasuke went on. He was acting like he was explaining things to a first grader.

Sakura didn't care about that. She was having trouble believing he what he was saying. "So then… if they keep me as a sort of… _prize… _for their fantasies?"

"I'd have left you in their presence for one day, and then broke you out."

"Watching the entire time for your _observations_?" She demanded. Her teeth were being clenched hard and her fists clenching harder as she stomped towards him.

Sasuke nodded.

Before she knew it, she punched him. To her utter surprise, it stuck Sasuke square on the left side of the face. The Uchiha didn't so much as blink to the strike.

"You got your punch, and it accomplished nothing," Sasuke said as Sakura slowly lowered her fist. His soulless eyes bearing down into her deep green ones. "You fought and it didn't change a thing. That's exactly what was happening with the village. The bandits were too deep in, and the villagers were too broken. Nothing you would have done would have changed it, be direct confrontation or your rescue methods."

"It would have saved lives!" Sakura retorted. "Even if it was only a few, it would have been worth it."

"It would have come at the cost of your own. You would not have been able to stop them long enough before they regrouped and recaptured any that did manage to run away. Thanks to that incident, I have learned that no matter how determined one may be, there will be battles that cannot be won, no matter how much you may wish it. I have accepted this. Now you must, as well as your own role in what is to come."

Her _role. _To be some guinea pig for his whims so he could learn about the world. Just because of one failed battle, did he really expect her to just roll over and accept whatever _he _wanted?

HELL NO!

Once again, she punched at him. This time, Sasuke simply caught her hand then landed his own punch on her stomach. She gasped for a moment before falling on her knees, her hands cradling her stomach.

"It seems you haven't learned the way things are." Sasuke observed. He bent down and grabbed her hard, dragging her off to the side.

The sound of the chains clicking back in place followed quickly.

**Shinobi World, outskirts of Iwakgakure.**

The single old man huddled slowly over the rocky terrain that served as the basis of the name for both the country and it's hidden village. His eyes looked upward at the towering rocky mountain ranges that served as a natural stronghold for the village as it did for the country as a whole. He knew the village itself rested on one of the inner mountain ranges with the buildings of composed rock and stone all interconnected by a series of bridges. Several narrow waterfalls were scattered around the village.

His injuries acted up once more, causing sweat to pour down the man's face as he placed a hand on one of them, the other to support himself with the long walking stick he had. He knew what he needed to do… Rock sentries would no doubt have noticed him by now and their policy was to eliminate uninvited guests first, ask questions never.

Hating himself for what he had to do, he reached into his pack and pulled out a small three pointed crown-like ridged headpiece with the symbol of Rock bolted on to it.

The symbol of his village that Roshi resolved never to wear again as he slid his helmet on over his flaming red hair. Despite well into his fifties, his hair remained a fierce bright red, a side effect of his occupant. It was the only thing about the creature he didn't mind. His body was as capable as one of thirty years despite being nearly twice that age.

Giving another grunge of pain, he recalled the events that lead to this decision to return to the home that had never been home.

Two of those infernal Akatsuki had managed to track him down in the Grass Country village that he had made his home. Unlike Rock which had viewed him strictly as a weapon, these people eventually came to accept as he was. He had been happy there, a sensation he never felt in the short time he had been in Rock.

_With that, the giant demonic monkey roared, and a blast of energy composed in it's mouth. Itachi watched as wind and fire were combined into one attack, and a fire twister was launched from the Yonbi's mouth. The two Akatsuki leapt into the air as one tail swished at them, launching a wave of water at them._

_"Thanks for providing me with ammunition!" Kisame cackled as he did several hand seals. "Suiton: Suikoudan no Jutsu (Water Shark Projectile Technique)!"_

_The water that was launched at them suddenly bent back and formed into a massive shark with razor sharp teeth. It slammed into the Jinchuuriki in Bijuu form, making it cry in main. The shark-man laughed some more as he brought his sword down. Samehada slashed through the wall of chakra that formed the bear's body, gorging itself on the demonic charka._

_After landing, Kisame chuckled as the scales on his sword seemed to quiver in anticipation in getting another taste of the demon's chakra. The giant monkey groaned in pain as it's power began diminishing quickly. Itachi then leapt up and looked straight into the jinchuuriki's eyes, his Sharingan morphing._

_"Tsukuyomi," Itachi whispered, looking right into the Jinchuuriki's eyes. The man inside the bijuu outer form cried in pain as his ghostly form quivered…and suddenly disintegrated. He caught the bearded old man who had a large black mark under his eyes, and landed._

_"That was fun, my Samehada never had that much chakra to feed on before," Kisame said as he patted his massive sword._

_Suddenly, Itachi looked back to see a form rising out of the ground. "Zetsu…"_

It was because of the younger Akatsuki's oversight that Roshi was not dead right now. The Yonbi, having no desire to be captured anymore than he did, had spiked it's chakra that allowed him to break the illusion that had hindered him. Handing him over to that 'Zetsu' was all the more lucky as the plant man did not expect him to suddenly wake up and strike back. Both of these allowed the old man to escape from the criminal's grasp and flee.

Knowing that he was weak and vulnerable, Roshi made a difficult decision. The fact was he _needed _help. He could not stand alone against Akatsuki. As small as their numbers were, he was still outnumbered. Swallowing the swell in the stomach, he resolved to head back to the one place that would take him back. The same place that was filled with battled harden warriors that would help secure his safety.

And that's how he ended up back home… to the Hidden Rock Village.

Looking up, he saw five, no… six shinobi running towards him. As they reached him, the leader gave a gasp of reorganization from the mark across Roshi's face, nearly trapping over his own feet. "R-roshi!"

"Aye…" Roshi said, still breathing hard. "… you pompus… airhead… you go tell that Old Fossil… that the _other _old fossil… is back…"

* * *

A/N: And with the introduction/return of Roshi the chapter ends! Hopefully there are still people reading this. The flashback scene is from Son Kenshin's – now SuperSaiyaMan12 – was directly from his Bending the Jutsu story, chapter 17. Though it's worth nothing that he initially labeled the Four Tails as a bear since at the time, we didn't know what the animal was. I think we can all agree that changing to the four tails to its actual animal for this is a good and right choice to make.

Plenty of other things happen as well: Tsunade is preparing for the worst in the case of Jiraiya, Team Avatar has been given a new leader, new members and a new mission. Sasuke is still being a ****. Hopefully that little scene helps show how his mind works and an idea of what he intends to do.

Please read and review.

_I do not own Naruto or Avatar: The Last Airbender. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and Nickelodeon Studios respectively. Also, Bending the Jutsu belongs to SuperSaiyaMan12. Thanks to SuperSaiyaMan12 for betaing!_


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